SINGAPORE: Top carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) said Monday it will spend more than $800 million to retrofit the cabins of its long-range Airbus A350-900 planes, as competition toughens. Cash-rich Gulf carriers like Qatar Airways and Emirates have given the industry leader a run for its money, closing the gap and even surpassing it in first and business classes, according to an analyst.

SIA said in a statement that polishing up all cabin classes in 41 of its A350-900 long-range and ultra long-range (ULR) aircraft will cost the carrier Sg$1.1 billion ($835 million). For the first time, the airline will introduce a “luxurious first class cabin” in seven A350-900 ULR aircraft aimed at “setting new industry benchmarks for travel on the world’s longest routes,” it said.

SIA took delivery of its first A350-900 in 2016, a year after Qatar Airways took hold of the aircraft as the launch customer. “Over the past six years, we have extensively engaged customers and stakeholders in the design of our next-generation long-haul cabin products, anticipating their evolving preferences and expectations down to the finest detail,” SIA chief executive Goh Choon Phong said.

Premium economy and economy class cabins will also be refreshed. Shukor Yusof, founder of Singapore-based aviation consultancy Endau Analytics, said the investment is aimed at keeping SIA’s edge in the industry. “SIA is a premium airline, always has been and always will be in terms of being at the top of the market,” Shukor told AFP.

“But I think that the competition is becoming very stiff from the Gulf carriers, from Qatar, from Emirates and also to some extent from Turkish Airlines.”

SIA said the first retrofitted aircraft is expected to enter into service in the second quarter of 2026. The program is expected to be completed by 2030. – AFP