Back in April we wrote about Singapore Airlines tentatively planning to deploy a refitted Airbus A380 with the latest 2017 seat products on the daily Singapore – Tokyo Narita route, which recently had its seasonal stint replaced by year-round operation on the superjumbo.
It looked as though deployment of these new cabins was set to start in August 2019, however plans changed and the first refitted aircraft, 9V-SKS, has instead initially supported a second daily connection to Sydney. It will later shift to the Delhi route for a month in August, before moving permanently to serve Mumbai from September 2019.
It looked as though the Tokyo plan was dead, but in a schedule update today the airline has now loaded the A380 Version 3 aircraft type onto the route on a daily basis from 1st January 2020 instead, presumably relying on a later aircraft refit to support the service.
The schedule
Here is how the daily A380 flight between Singapore and Tokyo Narita is scheduled, with northern winter 2019 / 2020 timings (these alter slightly in the summer season).
Until 31st December 2019
| Flight | From / To | Aircraft | Seats |
| SQ638 | SIN2355 – NRT0730* | 388 | 2006 R / 2006 J |
| SQ637 | NRT1105 – SIN1745 | 388 | 2006 R / 2006 J |
* Next day
From 1st January 2020
| Flight | From / To | Aircraft | Seats |
| SQ638 | SIN2355 – NRT0730* | 388 | 2017 R / 2017 J |
| SQ637 | NRT1105 – SIN1745 | 388 | 2017 R / 2017 J |
* Next day
The A380 Version 3 remains flying this route until the end of the published schedule, well into the summer 2020 period, so like Mumbai this looks to be a permanent fixture.
Remember that if you’re flying to or from Tokyo on SQ11/12, that service is still operated by a 777-300ER with 2013 First Class and 2013 Business Class seats. The flight also continues to Los Angeles from Tokyo, but there are no plans for the A380 to operate this routing.
Reviews
In case you missed them, we have comprehensive reviews from our firsthand experience of both the 2017 Business Class and 2017 Suites Class on the new Airbus A380 right here on the site.
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Those will help you learn what to expect from these new products if you haven’t flown them before. For the most part, you’re in for a treat!
Redemption rates
Here are the one-way redemption rates you’ll pay by cabin class on the Tokyo route, in either direction, using the KrisFlyer program for a full flight redemption.
| KrisFlyer Redemption Singapore – Tokyo | ||
| Saver | Advantage | |
| Economy | 25,000 | 45,000 |
| Premium Economy | 34,500 | n/a |
| Business | 47,000 | 70,000 |
| First / Suites | 70,000 | 120,000 |
The Tokyo route occasionally appears on the monthly Spontaneous Escapes list, as it did on the latest one (now expired). It typically means 30% off the regular saver award rate for Economy Class and Business Class redemptions, for those able to make short-term travel plans. Such an offer on this route would reduce the miles required to:
- Economy Class: 17,500 miles
- Business Class: 32,900 miles
We’ll be keeping a close eye on the December 2019 offer to see if these flights are discounted for travel in January 2020 once these new seats are in operation, since these represent competitive rates.
If you already hold or intend to book a firm ticket in an eligible booking class, here’s how many miles it will then cost you to upgrade, assuming saver upgrade award availability in your proposed cabin class.
| Upgrade using KrisFlyer miles Singapore – Tokyo |
|||
| Upgrading to → |  Premium |
 Business |
First / Suites |
| Existing booking ↓ | |||
| Economy Standard (Class: M, H, W) |
24,000 | 41,000 |  |
| Economy Flexi (Class: Y, B, E) |
15,000 | 31,000 | |
| Premium Economy Standard (Class: P) |
→ | 27,500 | |
| Premium Economy Flexi (Class: S, T) |
→ | 21,000 | |
| Business Standard / Flexi (Class: Z, C, J, U) |
→ | 39,500 | |
Summary
“Better late than never” as they say. We hope we didn’t get too many people’s hopes up regarding the original plan for the Tokyo route to get the new A380 seats from August 2019.
Thankfully the route will see aircraft with the new products installed operating from 1st January 2020 instead. If you have a booking next year on SQ638/637, log on to ‘Manage Booking’ now as you should see the seat map reflecting the new configuration.
We even have a guide on which seats to pick and which to avoid on the A380 Version 3 here.
As always we have updated our New A380 Suites and Business Class tracker page with this latest addition. There you can pinpoint exactly which flights to book or redeem to ensure you get these latest seats, with the caveat of course that last minute operational changes can always occur.
(Cover Photo: MainlyMiles)
oh well, i will have to enjoy my 2006 J seat then
Assume you’re flying before the 1st Jan? Perhaps you can change to the 77W and get the 2013 J instead?
I booked before the devaluation early this year. If i were to change to 77W, i would have to fork out additional miles.
Andrew, I booked mine last month and it still shows the A380 and the 2006 Business Class version. What do you mean by changing to the 77W for the 2013 version? How should I go about doing this?
Which date / month are you travelling?
May 2020
🎶Because I’m happy clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I’m happy clap along if you know what happiness is to you🎶 😄
May 2020
Weird i just redeemed a J class seat for Dec 2020 SQ638. The plane is a B777-300Er? Thought from Jan 2020 onwards the A380 will be flown on Sin-> NRT route?
oops just saw the 2017 suite page that says they will revert back to B777-300ER oh well. 2013J better than nothing haha