Bigger legroom, more non-stop long-haul flights with SIA's new A350 planes

SINGAPORE - Good news, travellers. There's no need to whip out your passport and boarding pass multiple times the next time you travel long distance on Singapore Airlines (SIA).

SIA's Airbus A350-900 will resume non-stop long-haul flights in May with an improved in-flight entertainment system to boot.

AsiaOne witnessed the arrival of the A350 this morning (Mar 3), where the traditional rite of the water cannons presented a fitting welcome.

The A350 has 253 seats, comprising 42 business class seats, 24 premium economy seats and 187 economy seats.

With higher ceilings, larger windows and an extra-wide body and lighting designed to reduce jetlag, stepping into the plane was a rather inviting experience.

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Slightly bigger seats, more legroom

For starters, the seats were plushy soft.

An economy seat is 19 inches wide - the same as the A380. 

However, the pitch (which really just means the legroom you get) of the economy on A350-900 is 36 inches, compared to the A380's 32 inches. That's 4 whole inches more, which could mean a whole lot of difference if you are tall and need the extra wiggle room. 

What's a long-haul flight without hours of entertainment?

For a more personalised flying experience, SIA will also be introducing the Companion App to complement its in-flight entertainment system (IFE), KrisWorld.

Seat monitors have been upgraded to 12 inches wide in the economy class.

The mobile app which can also be used on tablet, allows passengers to review videos and audio content which will be available on their flight before they board.

Passengers can then create a playlist of their favourite movies from a selected range of options.

Once on board, passengers can link their device to KrisWorld via the plane's WiFi network to launch their videos on the seat monitor.

Too comfortable to lift a finger to the touchscreen? No problem.

By linking the app to KrisWorld, the personal device functions as a remote control so passengers can surf channels just like a couch potato for the rest of the flight.

The app also allows for multi-tasking, so passengers can review real-time information on the flight progress or path without disrupting movies that are playing.

KrisWorld offers up to 295 movies, over 470 television programmes and more than 450 music albums each month. Seems like running out of things to do will never be a problem?

The plane will make its first commercial flight to Amsterdam on May 9 this year after the crew has undergone training to short-haul Asian destinations.

Come July, the A350-900 will also be used to add services to Dusseldorf.

debwong@sph.com.sg