By the end of this year, passengers on Singapore Airline’s newest plane, the Airbus A350-900ULR — for Ultra Long-Range — will travel on a record-breaking, globe-spanning flight that will reconnect the two major metropolises.
The airline used to fly the gas-guzzling, four-engine A340-500 on the 9,500-mile route, with just 100 business-class seats on board. The service proved to be inefficient, and Singapore Airlines canceled the flights in 2013.
The airline is now taking delivery of Airbus’ newest wide-body, the A350-900. It has 21 planes in its fleet, of an order for 67 aircraft.
Singapore Airlines has ordered seven of the ULRs.
On April 23, the plane had its first test flight, an almost five-hour round-trip that launched from the airframer’s assembly plant in Toulouse, France.
The ULR will be able to fly a remarkable 11,160 miles, an increase of more than 1,800 miles over the standard A350. It means that Singapore Airlines will reclaim the crown of running the world’s longest nonstop air route.
