SIA to proceed with A-380 retrofitting despite pandemic

Singapore Airlines will proceed with plans to retrofit three more Airbus A-380 aircraft despite the Covid-19 pandemic. The airline has moved one of its A-380s from the Alice Springs storage facility in Australia to Sydney. The plane will undergo routine checks in the city before being moved back to Singapore for a scheduled retrofitting and maintenance programme, SIA said Monday. The carrier plans to retrofit two other A-380 planes by its 2022/2023 financial year. SIA said: "The aircraft, registration 9V-SKQ, has been moved to Sydney to undergo routine checks following its storage before returning to Singapore where it will be retrofitted with the latest A-380 cabin product. "This is part of our plan to have all 12 remaining A-380s in our fleet fitted with the latest A-380 cabin product." Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the airline had a fleet of 19 A-380s. It grounded the fleet around March last year as the coronavirus outbreak rapidly worsened. Twelve of the planes were parked at Changi Airport and seven sent to long-term storage at Alice Springs. The carrier had said in a business update last November that it would retire 26 planes deemed surplus to fleet requirements - including seven A-380s - after a review of the longer-term network. Of the remaining 12 A-380s, four had been retrofitted. Five others had been delivered to SIA with the newer cabin configuration.<br/>