With high-paying passengers driving airline profitability, carriers are locked in an escalating race to outshine one another through what they offer in their premium cabins. Singapore Airlines has revealed the seats to be installed in many of its A350s as part of a long-awaited $S2 billion ($2.26 billion) cabin refit – for first class, business class, premium economy and economy. The new cabins will also be in its upcoming order of 31 Boeing 777-9s. The complexity and cost of the cabin refit tells a much broader story about the battle to cater to the premium traveller with better seating, cabins, service and food. That battle is playing out against the constraints of the industry as it struggles to keep up with surging demand for seats. The Singapore Airlines refit was announced in 2024 with expectations the first of 41 A350-900 planes would be ready by this year. Instead, the airline said this year that the first planes would start to be refitted by the first quarter of 2027, the revised timeline reflecting what it said were industry-wide supply chain constraints and a delay in the certification of one of the new seats. Safety regulators such as the US Federal Aviation Administration certify planes and interiors for flight. Singapore Airlines senior vice president customer experience Yeoh Phee Teik told a press conference on Friday: “Seats have already been certified on the 777-9. As you know, the 777-9 aircraft itself has not yet passed certification.” “You have to understand the intricacies of that; the seats on the A350 have not yet been certified. We are undergoing that process right now.” Which is to say seats for a plane not yet cleared for use are approved, but new seats for a plane already in use (the A350) have not. The company expects them to be approved by 2027. Singapore Airlines’ Boeing 777-9s are expected by the second half of 2027, said Lee Lik Hsin, chief commercial officer. “We are working hand in hand and working very hard with our partners [the plane and seat makers] to make sure that we achieve those milestones.” Across the industry, planes are awaiting seats, or indeed awaiting certification. The bottlenecks in the production and certification processes exacerbate each other. These delays have prompted airlines, constrained in their ability to get new aircraft, to resort to cabin refreshes to stay competitive. Qantas announced one for its 737s in 2025 . This has set off a rush in demand for new premium seating, which has strained both the industry producing it, and the few regulators in the US and Europe who can approve it. Singapore Airlines’ first-class cabins, for example, move away from the sameness, featuring an undulating shape, breaking rigid lines and creating an aisle that is curved, a rare sight on a jet. “The curve in the aisle unlocks more space for the passenger,” said designer Ben Rowan, of London-based PriestmanGoode, who is the mastermind behind the layout. “You’re not looking at office cubicles in a straight line. This is a much more curving, welcoming space.” Poltrona Frau leather upholstery, individual full-flat beds 80 inches in length and 30 inches in width, and adjacent seats that can transform into a two-seater sofa for daytime lounging are all features. The slightly hexagonal cabins allow passengers sleeping on the “lie-flat” beds to turn and place their feet on the floor, creating a sensation similar to a bedroom. “When you sleep and you get up at home, what’s the first thing you do?” asked Lee, the chief commercial officer. “You turn to the side, and you sit on your bed. We couldn’t do that before. “Today we can, because the curved walls provide a little bit of space for you to put your foot down, and maybe collect yourself before you stand up.” A redesign of a cabin in a style that complements Singapore Airlines’ high service level aims to reinforce its position as a premium airline, one with the fortune of geography to pick up Europe-Asia traffic lost to its rival Gulf airlines
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