SINGAPORE AIRLINES (SIA) has widened its "Y aircraft" evaluation of the Boeing 777 to include the longer range -200 B-market and -300 stretch variants.
The 777 is competing against the Airbus Industrie A330/340 for an SIA order for up to 17 aircraft. A final selection was due to be made by late September, or early October, but it has been suggested that the competition could now be rebid.
A local source confirms that "...the airline is now evaluating more than it originally asked for in the request for proposals". The Y-aircraft is intended as a partial replacement for SIA's 189-seat Airbus A310s used on higher-density regional routes.
SIA's attention focused initially on the A330 and A340-200 and the 777-200. The 777 A-market aircraft option, is understood to have been, undermined by the aircraft's poor sales record and concern about its possible low resale value.
Airline interest in the Boeing twinjet has since switched to the higher-gross-weight 777-200 B-market aircraft and the recently launched -300 stretch version.
If selected, SIA would be likely to follow the examples of Cathay Pacific Airways and Thai Airways International and opt for a mixture of different 777 versions and weight options to optimise fleet flexibility.
Both 777 versions might entail an element of operational misuse, if employed solely on SIA's regional routes. While the 305-seat B-market aircraft is viewed as a better-sized A310 replacement, its 11,040km (6,000nm)-plus range is in excess of that required for regional flights.
The shorter-range 777-300, however, seats 400-550 passengers and is billed primarily as a successor to the 747-200/300 on high-density routes.
Source: Flight International
