SINGAPORE – The first long-haul flight from Singapore to Amsterdam will be launched by Singapore Airlines on May 9.

The national carrier made this announcement today as it is due to take delivery of its first of 67 A350-900 planes at the Airbus Delivery Centre in Toulouse.

The A350 will serve SIA’s daily flight to the capital of Netherlands as SQ324, as well as its return flight SQ323.

In the interim before the long-haul flights begin, SIA will deploy its A350 fleet to selected destinations within Asia on a temporary basis, for crew training purposes.

In July, the A350-900 will be used to add services to Dusseldorf, Germany, as the newest point in the Singapore Airlines network.

SIA added that seven of the 67 Airbus planes on order are the ultra-long-range variant which will be delivered in 2018, for use on non-stop services between Singapore and points in the United States.

“The newest addition to the Airline’s fleet will offer customers an improved travelling experience with features such as higher ceilings, larger windows, an extra wide body and lighting designed to reduce jetlag,” SIA said.

The initial batch of A350-900s for long-haul flights will seat 253 passengers in three classes, with 42 business class, 24 premium economy class and 187 economy class seats.

grongloh@sph.com.sg