Singapore Airlines Reveals New First And Business Class Seats

I'm in Singapore today for something Singapore Airlines fans (myself included) have been waiting a very long time for. The airline has just pulled the covers off its next-generation long-haul cabins, with an all-new First Class, Business Class, Premium Economy and Economy, backed by more than S$2 billion of investment.

The new seats will start flying from the second half of 2027 on the airline's 41 retrofitted long-haul and ultra-long-range A350-900s, followed by the Boeing 777-9 whenever Boeing finally delivers it.

Nine Years Since The Last Big Reveal

The last time Singapore Airlines held one of these launches was on 2 November 2017, when it unveiled the A380 Suites and Business Class. That product debuted on the Singapore to Sydney route in December 2017, and it's been the airline's flagship ever since.

Today's reveal lands almost exactly nine years later, which is a fairly typical lifespan in aviation. In that time Qatar, Etihad, Cathay Pacific and others have all moved the goalposts with doors, bigger screens and more privacy across their business cabins.

The seat being replaced will be close to 14 years old by the time it starts flying in 2027. The seat on today's long-haul A350s was first unveiled in July 2013 for the Boeing 777-300ER, designed by James Park Associates. While it has held up very well, people did have some valid grievances with this design. It’s comfortable with plenty of width but the angled sleeping position was a pain point these new seats should resolve (especially if you’re tall!).

These new seats were never meant to debut on the A350. They've been in development since 2018 for the Boeing 777-9, with Singapore originally hoping to launch them as early as 2021. As the 777-9 slipped year after year, Singapore changed tack in November 2024 and announced a S$1.1 billion retrofit to bring the same first and business class seats to the A350s first.

Singapore Airlines New First Class

First Class is a PriestmanGoode design, the London studio's first project with Singapore Airlines, built by Collins Aerospace. It's coming to the 777-9 with six seats and to the A350-900ULR with four, both in a 1-2-1 layout with direct aisle access.

Each suite gets curved sliding doors, Poltrona Frau leather and soft wall panels pressed with Singapore's batik motif. Warm leather, crystal pendant lights and a muted grey-blue palette give it a boutique hotel feel.

The seat is 23 inches wide (30 inches with the armrests down), with an 89.5-inch pitch. It converts into an 80 x 30-inch full-flat bed. There are electronically adjustable side wings, upper and lower lumbar support, adjustable armrests, a leg rest and an ottoman.

The big change from the A380 Suites is the format. On the A380, you get a separate swivel armchair and a bed that folds down from the wall. Here, the seat itself becomes the bed, which is how most new first class products work, and it makes the suite fit into a 777 or A350 fuselage.

The Double Bed

The double bed carries over from the A380, with a twist. In the centre pair, the divider retracts fully and both seats move together to form a two-seater sofa during the day.

At night they flatten into what Singapore says is the largest double bed in commercial aviation, at 80 inches long and 60 inches wide. Bedding is 100% cotton with a duvet and a new mattress topper from German bedding specialist Paradies. First class also gets a pillow menu (yes you read that right!), so you can pick the pillow that suits how you sleep, much like you would in a good hotel.

Dining, Storage And Tech

Every suite has a 27 x 22.5-inch bi-fold table that supports face-to-face companion dining and doubles as a workspace.

Storage includes a personal wardrobe, shelving, a cabin bag compartment beneath the ottoman and a leather-lined vanity drawer with a lit mirror.

The screen is a 32-inch 4K touchscreen (OLED on the A350-900ULR), with spatial audio and Bang & Olufsen wireless headphones, or you can pair your own over Bluetooth. A small touch panel by the seat shows time remaining, destination weather and local time, Wi-Fi status and whether the toilet is free. That last one is more useful than it sounds.

Seat controls are physical, tactile buttons with presets for dining, lounging and bed.

Singapore is calling its smart cabin controls a world first. They link to your myKrisWorld profile and remember your seat position and lighting settings for future flights.

Singapore Airlines New Business Class

Business Class was designed by Designworks (the BMW Group studio that did Singapore's 2013 first class) and is built by RECARO. This is the seat most readers will fly, as it's going onto the 777-9 (54 seats), the long-haul A350-900 (42 seats) and the A350-900ULR (70 seats), all in a 1-2-1 layout. The colour scheme is interesting to say the least and seems to be a new direction for Singapore Airlines, I feel like this might either grow on me… or not. Time will tell.

The headline upgrade is a sliding door at every seat. The centre pairs get an electronically adjustable divider, and selected centre seats can be configured as companion beds when the divider is down.

The bed measures 79 inches long and up to 24 inches wide.

Other details:

• Full-grain leather with custom embroidery
• Adjustable upper and lower lumbar support and leg rest
• New padded bedsheet with memory foam
• 22 x 14.7-inch bi-fold table
• 4K OLED screen up to 22 inches on the A350, 20 inches on the 777-9, with spatial audio and Bluetooth pairing
• Wireless charging, USB-C and AC power
• myKrisWorld-linked seat position memory

Premium Economy And Economy

The new Premium Economy and Economy seats are for the 777-9 only, both designed by Factorydesign and built by Collins Aerospace. The A350 retrofit covers business class (and first on the ULR), so the A350s keep their current Premium Economy and Economy seats, with Premium Economy getting a refresh.

Premium Economy on the 777-9 has 36 seats in a 2-4-2 layout with a 40-inch pitch, 19-inch width, up to nine inches of recline, a leg rest with adjustable footrest and a screen of up to 16 inches.

Economy has 204 seats in a 3-4-3 layout, 31 to 32 inches of pitch and 17.6 inches of width.

Singapore says the recline mechanism has been redesigned for more knee and shin room. Screens are up to 13 inches, there's Bluetooth audio pairing and USB-C at every seat, plus a secondary display for flight info and toilet availability.

When Can You Fly It?

The new cabins start entering service from the second half of 2027, and that date really belongs to the retrofitted A350s. Launch routes haven't been confirmed. Until the 777-9 arrives, the new first class will only be on the seven ultra-long-range A350s, and every route they fly today is to the US: New York JFK, Newark and San Francisco, with Los Angeles reportedly lined up as the first route for a refitted aircraft. Unless Singapore starts sending these jets to Europe or elsewhere, travellers outside the US won't see the new first class for some time.

Don't hold your breath for the 777-9. Singapore was an early customer, ordering its first 20 in February 2017 (it now has 31 on order), and its first aircraft was meant to arrive in 2021. Boeing still says first deliveries will happen in 2027, but certification keeps slipping, Lufthansa is expected to get the first aircraft, and Emirates and Qatar are likely ahead of Singapore in the queue too. Singapore's own fleet plan has no 777-9 deliveries before April 2027. My bet is we won't be flying these seats on a Singapore 777-9 until 2028.

Australians have a better shot at the new business class, which goes on all the long haul A350s which currently do fly to som Australian destinations.

Summing Up

Nine years after the A380 Suites and 13 years after the current business seat first appeared, Singapore has finally put doors on business class and given first class a seat format that suits twin-engine jets. The double bed survives, the footwell gets a fix and the A350-900ULR gains first class for the first time.