Singapore Airlines Airbus A340-500 "Leadership" : The Leader of Ultra Long-Haul Airliners

There are so many stories about a plane that changed the way we fly. In this story, Leadership, the Airbus A340-500 is one of the airliners that changed the way we fly. It connected people to two continents directly and it offered luxury in its cabin. So, Singapore Airlines Airbus A340-500 or the Leadership became the leader of ultra long-haul routes. Here is the story of "Leadership" Airbus A340-500, the leader of ultra-long haul airliners.

On 2002, Airbus, an aircraft manufacturer company based in France introduced the world's longest range commercial airliner at the time, the Airbus A340-500. The prototype of Airbus A340-500 flew for the first time on 11 February 2016 and entered service with Emirates, the flag carrier airline of United Arab Emirates in 2003. Airbus A340-500 is the second largest version of Airbus A340 family after Airbus A340-600. It can fly 16,000 kilometers without any stop. It means the Airbus A340-500 is able to fly non-stop between two continents.

The old executive economy class of “Leadership” Airbus A340-500 in 2004

Singapore Airlines, the flag carrier airline of Singapore also interested with this aircraft type. Singapore Airlines ordered five Airbus A340-500 aircraft. The Airbus A340-500 can carry 375 passengers in one class, 359 passengers in two-class, and 293 passengers in three class. 

The old business class cabin of “Leadership” Airbus A340-500

But, the Leadership's cabin was only filled with 64 business class seats and 117 executive economy class seats. By this configuration made the aircraft lighter, so the aircraft could carry more fuel and extended its range.

9V-SGA on approach to Los Angeles International Airport on February 9, 2013

On December 31, 2003, Airbus delivered 9V-SGA, the first Airbus A340-500 of Singapore Airlines. This was the first step of Singapore Airlines' ultra long-haul era. After the delivery, the Airbus A340-500 "Leadership" entered to the service. This type used by Singapore Airlines for Singapore-Los Angeles, Singapore-Newark, and sometimes "Leadership" Airbus A340-500 operated some regional short-haul routes. 

9V-SGE at Los Angeles International Airport on January 24, 2013

The second Airbus A340-500 or the "Leadership" was being delivered to Singapore Airlines on January 12, 2004. It registered as 9V-SGB. 9V-SGC, the third "Leadership" was delivered to Singapore Airlines on January 23, 2004. After that, Airbus delivered 9V-SGD, the fourth Airbus A340-500 to Singapore Airlines on April 8, 2004. Then, the fifth and also the last Airbus A340-500 or the "Leadership" was delivered to Singapore Airlines on May 4, 2004.

9V-SGB at Newark-Liberty International Airport in July 2010

After all the Airbus A340-500 being delivered to Singapore Airlines, Singapore Airlines began the flight that became one of the longest flight in the world, the Singapore Airlines flight 21 and Singapore Airlines flight 22. Flight SQ21 flew from Newark-Liberty International Airport to Singapore-Changi International international international Airport and travelled 15,344 kilometers to reach Singapore. Flight SQ22 flew from Singapore-Changi International Airport to Newark-Liberty International Airport and travelled 16,600 kilometers to reach Newark. Both flights required eighteen hours of flight and may be required nearly twenty-two hours of flight if tailwind occurred during the flight. The "Leadership" Airbus A340-500 would be filled with 222,000 liters of fuel in its fuel tank before takeoff, the weight of the fuel required was about ten times of the passengers weight.

9V-SGC in a final approach to Los Angeles International Airport

The first flight of Singapore Airlines flight 22 occurred on 28 June 2004. At the day, one of the "Leadership" Airbus A340-500 was departing from Singapore-Changi International Airport and travelled 16,600 kilometers before reached the Newark-Liberty International Airport. This route required six flight deck crews and fourteen cabin crews. Each crew on board flight SQ22 or SQ22 had to work four hours shifts. The "Leadership" Airbus A340-500 became the leader of ultra long-haul flights at the time.

The newer configuration of the "Leadership" Airbus A340-500, featuring all-business class seats

In 2008, Singapore Airlines phased out the old configuration of its "Leadership" Airbus A340-500 and introduced the new configuration with fewer seats. The executive economy class was phased out by Singapore Airlines. Then, Singapore Airlines filled the cabin of all its "Leadership" Airbus A340-500 with 100 all-business class seats. Experts believe the direct flights will reduce fuel consumption and reduce flying time because the direct flights don't require any stop. The cabin of "Leadership" Airbus A340-500 was also equipped with special lockers to store the corpses of any passengers that died en route. 

9V-SGD at Los Angeles International Airport

The Airbus A340-500 became the important aircraft for Singapore Airlines for the ultra long-haul flights. But, the "Leadership" Airbus A340-500 had a short life in the Singapore Airlines' fleet. In October 2012, Singapore Airlines announced if they would discontinue Singapore-Newark and Singapore-Los Angeles routes in 2013, because both routes no longer had high revenue again. That also means if Singapore Airlines would no longer operate the "Leadership" Airbus A340-500 again.

In September 2013, the second "Leadership" Airbus A340-500, 9V-SGB, was being sold by Singapore Airlines followed by 9V-SGA in October 2013, and 9V-SGC in November 2013.

On November 23, 2013, the last "Leadership" Airbus A340-500 to be delivered to Singapore Airlines, operated the last Singapore Airlines' ultra long-haul flight and also the last Singapore Airlines' "Leadership" Airbus A340-500 flight. It departed from Newark-Liberty International Airport on November 23, 2013 as flight SQ21 and travelled 15,344 kilometers before finally touched down in Singapore-Changi International Airport. It became the death of the leader of ultra long-haul airliners and the death of Singapore Airlines' ultra long-haul flights. After that flight, 9V-SGE was being sold. 9V-SGD was being sold one month after, exactly on December 2013. 9V-SGD was purchased by Las Vegas Sands and delivered to Las Vegas Sands on May 4, 2014.

After that, Singapore Airlines no longer operate direct flights between Singapore and the United States of America again. Flights between Singapore and the USA are now being operated by Airbus A380-800 or Boeing 777-300ER by a stop. The Singapore-San Francisco route is operated by Boeing 777-300ER with a stop at Seoul, the Singapore-New York JFK route is operated by Airbus A380-800 with a stop at Frankfurt, and the Singapore-Houston route is operated by Boeing 777-300ER via Moscow-Domodedovo. Singapore Airlines is no longer operate flights to Newark since the retirement of the "Leadership" Airbus A340-500. The Singapore Airlines' ultra long-haul is dead now. But, the ultra long-haul flights will not die forever, it will rise again in 2017 after the new Airbus A350-900ULR being delivered to Singapore Airlines. After that, the ultra long-haul flights maybe rise again.


Note: All pictures in this post are taken from airliners.net, the names of the photographers are listed below the every picture.