Carrier will convert Newark, LAX non-stops

It had been rumored since last year that Singapore Airlines was thinking about offering an all-business-class transpacific service, and now the airline has made it official. Singapore said it will convert the five Airbus A340-500s on its non-stop Newark-Singapore and Los Angeles-Singapore routes into an all-business-class configuration this year. The first reconfigured aircraft will start flying between Newark-Singapore in mid-May, with all of the daily EWR-SIN non-stop flights converted by the end of June. The refitted aircraft will be available on all of the airline’s LAX-SIN non-stops by late September. Currently, the Singapore A340-500s on those routes have 181 seats in two classes. The refitted planes will have 100 business class seats in a 1-2-1 configuration. The seats are 30 inches wide, which Singapore claims is the widest of any business class seat. The seats, which will convert into lie-flat beds, are the same as those currently installed on the airline’s A380 and 777-300ER aircraft. Singapore said that customers currently booked in economy on the affected flights will be re-accommodated on the airline’s one-stop flights out of New York JFK or LAX. It added that as the planes are overhauled, the current LAX-SIN non-stop will not operate on Tuesdays from mid-May to late June; Newark schedules will not be affected.