The combined fleet of 120 Singapore Airlines jets flies over 260 flights per day around the world. A small fraction of those, just a dozen in fact, don’t involve Singapore at either end of their flight. Those few services operate between two airports thousands of miles away from the airline’s Changi hub. With a couple of exceptions, they are known as “fifth freedom” routes.
You can buy a ticket on them, or redeem your KrisFlyer miles too, so are they any use? Let’s take a look.
What’s a “fifth freedom” route?
The fifth freedom of the air applies to commercial aviation, which is handy being SIA’s primary business. It is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) as:
“The right to fly between two foreign countries on a flight originating or ending in one’s own country.” (Simplified, Wikipedia)