Singapore Airlines Deploys Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner on Kathmandu Flights for Dashain and Tihar 2026

Singapore Airlines is flying its 337-seat Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner to Kathmandu on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, from 18 September to 27 November 2026.

The aircraft that normally works the Singapore–Kathmandu route is a Boeing 737-8, a single-aisle jet with 154 seats. For the festival window the airline is sending a widebody instead: the Boeing 787-10, 68.3 metres long, 337 seats, twin aisles, Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 TEN engines. On the three days a week it operates, that is 183 more seats on the same route.

The timing is not incidental. These are the weeks when Nepali families living in Singapore fly home for the year’s two largest festivals, and the same weeks when the Himalaya is at its clearest. Demand climbs; a bigger aircraft is the airline’s answer to it.

This article sets out, with sources throughout, exactly what is flying and when, what the cabins are, when Dashain and Tihar fall in 2026, and what a Singapore passport holder needs to land in Kathmandu.

What Has Singapore Airlines Changed on the Kathmandu Route?

Singapore Airlines has swapped the aircraft, not the schedule. The flight numbers, the days and the clock times are the same as the rest of the year. What changes is the metal: on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 18 September and 27 November 2026, SQ 442 and SQ 441 are operated by a Boeing 787-10 instead of a Boeing 737-8, according to the airline’s own Nepal promotion page.

Seat totals and dimensions from Singapore Airlines’ 787-10 and 737-8 fleet pages; the 787-10 cabin split and layouts from the airline’s Nepal page; the 737-8 business cabin count from Mainly Miles. The 144 economy figure is the 154-seat total less the 10 business seats.

The 787-10 is the largest aircraft by seat capacity operating at Tribhuvan International Airport, as myRepublica reported when the deployment was announced.

What Is the Boeing 787-10 Cabin Like?

Economy Class

301 of the 337 seats are Economy, laid out 3-3-3. The airline points to contoured backrests and a six-way headrest, and to the 787’s larger cabin windows, which are the type’s most recognisable feature from the inside.

KrisWorld and Wi-Fi

Every seat has an HD touchscreen running KrisWorld with more than 1,900 on-demand titles. Wi-Fi is unlimited and complimentary in all cabin classes, which on a five-hour sector is the difference between landing at Tribhuvan having worked or having not.

Two Things Worth Knowing Before You Book

Both come from the airline’s Nepal promotion page, and both apply to this route specifically:

• Visa refusal refund. Singapore Airlines refunds the ticket in full, with cancellation fees waived, if a customer’s visa application to travel abroad is unsuccessful.
• KrisFlyer baggage. KrisFlyer members get an extra 5 kg of baggage allowance on the first flight departing from Kathmandu.

If you are connecting through Changi with a layover between 5.5 and 24 hours, the Free Singapore Tour is open to you; terms apply.

SQ 442 and SQ 441: the Full Schedule

SQ 442 leaves Singapore in the evening and lands in Kathmandu the same night. SQ 441 is a red-eye the other way, leaving Kathmandu just after 11pm and reaching Changi at breakfast. Both run Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

All times are local. Nepal runs 2 hours 15 minutes behind Singapore, so the outbound sector is about 4 hours 55 minutes in the air and the return about 4 hours 50. Times and aircraft assignments are published by the airline and can change; confirm yours on the airline’s own page before you commit to anything on the ground.

Both flights use Tribhuvan International Airport, Nepal’s main international gateway, about six kilometres east of central Kathmandu.

When Do Dashain and Tihar Fall in 2026?

Dashain runs through October 2026 and Tihar through early November. The two festivals sit about three weeks apart, and the 787-10 window covers both with room on either side.

Dashain 2026

• Ghatasthapana — Sunday 11 October, when the festival opens and barley is sown indoors for jamara
• Phulpati — Saturday 17 October
• Maha Asthami — Monday 19 October
• Maha Nawami — Tuesday 20 October
• Vijaya Dashami — Wednesday 21 October, the main day, when elders give tika and jamara to the younger generation

Tihar 2026

• Laxmi Puja — Sunday 8 November, when oil lamps and marigold go up across every doorway in the valley
• Govardhan Puja — Monday 9 November
• Bhai Tika — Tuesday 10 November, the closing day

Dates follow the lunar calendar and are published in the Nepali civil calendar; local observance can shift by a day. If a specific day matters to your trip, confirm it against the Nepal Tourism Board nearer the time.

Why the Festivals Fill the Aircraft

Dashain is the longest and most widely observed festival in Nepal, and the part of it that drives air traffic is not the ritual but the travel: the whole country moves to be with family. For Nepalis working abroad, including the community in Singapore, this is the trip of the year, and the Singapore–Kathmandu sector carries that pressure for about ten weeks.

Tihar follows three weeks later. Over five days the valley lights up: oil lamps along every ledge, marigold strung across doorways, and sel roti frying on the street. If you are visiting rather than coming home, this is the single best week of the year to be in Kathmandu.

The practical consequence for a traveller from Singapore is seat supply. A route running 154 seats three days a week is tight in October. The same route running 337 is not the same market, and fares behave accordingly.

What Do Singapore Passport Holders Need to Enter Nepal?

A visa on arrival, bought at Tribhuvan International Airport with US dollars in cash. Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that Singaporeans may stay in Nepal up to 90 days on a visa issued on arrival, obtainable at Tribhuvan and at the land border points at Kakadvitta, Birgunj, Bhairahawa, Nepalgunj, Gaddachowki and Kodari.

• Payment. Visa fees are payable in USD. MFA notes that money-changing and ATM services exist at the airport but credit card payment is not reliable. Carry cash.
• Passport validity. Six months beyond your intended departure from Nepal.
• Before you fly. The arrival form can be completed online through Nepal’s online arrival portal, which shortens the queue at the counter. Fees and conditions are published by the Department of Immigration.
• eRegister. MFA strongly encourages Singaporeans travelling to Nepal to eRegister so the ministry can reach you if something happens.

One Current Caveat

MFA has a travel notice on Nepal dated 27 August 2026, following the flash floods along the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli rivers. It advises Singaporeans to avoid Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Gorkha and Chitwan, and to expect disruption to roads, transport and communications in those districts. Kathmandu, Pokhara, the Annapurna region and the Everest region are not on that list, but read the notice yourself before you book, and read it again before you fly. We have written separately about Singapore’s response to the floods and what it means for travellers.

Autumn Is Nepal’s Clearest Trekking Season

The monsoon washes the air through September and leaves behind the visibility that makes October and November the busiest trekking months of the year. The same ten weeks the 787-10 is flying are the weeks the trails are at their best, which is why the aircraft and the season are the same story.

From Kathmandu, the two routes most Singaporean trekkers start with are:

• Annapurna Base Camp Trek — 15 days, to 4,130 m, through Gurung villages and rhododendron forest into the Annapurna Sanctuary.
• Everest Base Camp Trek — 15 days, the Khumbu classic, flying in to Lukla.
• Ghorepani Poon Hill Trek — 12 days and the gentlest of the three, with the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri walls from Poon Hill at sunrise.
• Mardi Himal Trek — 7 days, the shortest real Himalayan trek we run, and the one that fits a Singapore leave allowance.

If you would rather not walk, the valley itself holds a week easily: the living heritage of Kathmandu, and Pokhara under the Annapurna range, six hours west by road or 25 minutes by air.

Sources

Schedules and aircraft assignments change. Check these directly rather than relying only on this article:

• Singapore Airlines — Boeing 787-10 in Nepal — dates, days, flight numbers, clock times, cabin split and the fare and baggage terms quoted above
• Singapore Airlines — Boeing 787-10 fleet page — 337 seats, 68.3 m, Trent 1000 TEN, and the route list that includes Kathmandu
• Singapore Airlines — Boeing 737-8 fleet page — 154 seats, 39.5 m, and the route list that also includes Kathmandu
• Mainly Miles — where Singapore Airlines flies its 737 MAX — the 737-8 business cabin count and the winter 2026/27 schedule
• myRepublica — coverage of the deployment and the Tribhuvan capacity point
• Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs — Nepal — entry requirements for Singaporeans, and the 27 August 2026 travel notice
• Nepal Department of Immigration and Nepal online arrival portal — visa fees, conditions and the online arrival form
• Nepal Tourism Board — festival dates and current conditions

Last checked 4 October 2026.