When SIA’s low-cost carrier Scoot announced that it would be increasing its flight schedules from 5th June 2020, effectively doubling its capacity compared to May 2020 (albeit from a low baseline), it was the first indication that we might start to see some increases coming through from Singapore Airlines.
The carrier had already committed to its 96% capacity cut, serving the same 15 destinations in combination with its regional subsidiary SilkAir since early April, through to 30th June 2020.
Today the airline has announced its new schedule and it’s good news – 12 new cities are being added to the network from as early as 8th June, with frequency increases on some existing services, for a total of 519 flights planned for the month of July, a 75% increase by flight volumes compared to current levels.
“Reinstated scheduled services include flights to Adelaide, Amsterdam, Auckland, Barcelona, Brisbane, Cebu, Christchurch, Copenhagen, Hong Kong, Medan, Melbourne and Osaka.
“With today’s announcement, SIA has cut approximately 94% of the passenger capacity that had been originally scheduled for June and July 2020 due to the Covid-19 outbreak.”
Singapore Airlines, 1 June 2020
This is a significant shift from the low points we’ve seen during April and May 2020, reintroducing cities like Auckland, Amsterdam, Melbourne, Osaka and Brisbane.
The expanded network significantly capitalises on SIA’s connection principle, with transit passengers permitted to pass through Changi Airport starting tomorrow. Around a third of all passengers at Changi are transit passengers, with an even higher proportion of SIA’s regular customers passing through the hub simply en-route from A to B.
Interestingly Brisbane is re-added to the network as a ‘tag’ onto the Sydney flight, operating with the old Singapore-Sydney-Canberra flight number (SQ288), though it operates direct back to Changi. The unusual ‘triangle’ is SIN-SYD-BNE-SIN, from 9th July 2020.
Full flight schedules are now available at the Singapore Airlines website.
Singapore Airlines flights
In addition to the 14 cities Singapore Airlines has been consistently serving from Changi during the downturn, this month sees the following ten destinations added:
- Adelaide
- Amsterdam
- Auckland
- Barcelona
- Brisbane
- Christchurch
- Copenhagen
- Hong Kong (also being served by Scoot)
- Melbourne
- Osaka
As you can see SIA’s passenger flights took a nose dive starting in February 2020 and into March 2020, though the low points of April and May are now behind us with a gradual service increase coming through for June and July.
Singapore Airlines will be running the following passenger flights to and from 24 cities during June and July 2020.
| New services or increased frequencies are highlighted in yellow |
All flights not listed below are cancelled during this period, or will operate as cargo-only services.
| Adelaide (from 8 Jun) |
||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ ADL SQ279 |
■ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | 359R |
| ADL ➔ SIN SQ278 |
□ | ■ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | 359R |
| Amsterdam (from 9 Jun) |
||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ AMS SQ324 |
□ | ■ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | 359 |
| AMS ➔ SIN SQ323 |
■ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | □ | 359 |
| Auckland (from 9 Jun) |
||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ AKL SQ281 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | 359 |
| AKL ➔ SIN SQ282 |
□ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | □ | □ | 359 |
| SIN ➔ AKL SQ285 |
□ | ■ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | 359 |
| AKL ➔ SIN SQ286 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | 359 |
| Bangkok |
||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ BKK SQ976 |
■ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | 787 |
| BKK ➔ SIN SQ979 |
■ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | 787 |
| Note: SQ976 SIN-BKK is a cargo-only service during June 2020 due to Thai government restrictions | ||||||||
| Barcelona (from 11 Jun) |
||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ BCN SQ388 |
□ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | □ | 359 |
| BCN ➔ SIN SQ387 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | 359 |
| Brisbane (from 9 Jun) |
||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ BNE via SYD SQ288 |
□ | ■ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | 359 |
| BNE ➔ SIN SQ288 |
□ | ■ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | 359 |
Singapore – Brisbane flights operate via Sydney as SQ288 (the previous Canberra flight number), then operating direct back to Singapore.
| Christchurch (from 14 Jun) |
||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ CHC SQ297 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | 359 |
| CHC ➔ SIN SQ298 |
□ | ■ | □ | □ | □ | □ |
□ | 359 |
| Copenhagen (from 18 Jun) |
||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ CPH SQ352 |
□ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | □ | 359 |
| CPH ➔ SIN SQ351 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | 359 |
| Frankfurt (until 8 Jun) |
||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ FRA SQ326 |
□ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | 359 |
| FRA ➔ SIN SQ325 |
■ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | □ | 359 |
| Frankfurt (from 9 Jun) |
||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ FRA SQ26 |
□ | ■ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | □ | 359 |
| FRA ➔ SIN SQ25 |
■ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | □ | 359 |
| Hanoi | ||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| HAN ➔ SIN SQ175 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | 359R |
Singapore – Hanoi flights operate as cargo-only. Passengers are carried solely on the return service.
| Ho Chi Minh | ||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SGN ➔ SIN SQ177 |
■ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | □ | 787 |
Singapore – Ho Chi Minh flights operate as cargo-only. Passengers are carried solely on the return service.
| Hong Kong (from 10 Jun) |
||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ HKG SQ890 |
□ | □ | ■ | ■ | □ | ■ | □ | 787 |
| HKG ➔ SIN SQ891 |
□ | □ | ■ | ■ | □ | ■ | □ | 787 |
| Jakarta | ||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ CGK SQ966 |
■ | □ | ■ | ■ | ■ | □ | ■ | 359 |
| CGK ➔ SIN SQ967 |
■ | □ | ■ | ■ | ■ | □ | ■ | 359 |
| Kuala Lumpur | ||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ KUL SQ104 |
■ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | 359 |
| KUL ➔ SIN SQ105 |
■ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | 359 |
| London | ||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ LHR SQ322 |
□ | ■ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | □ | 359 |
| LHR ➔ SIN SQ317 |
■ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | □ | 359 |
| Los Angeles | ||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ LAX SQ38 |
□ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | 359 |
| LAX ➔ SIN SQ37 |
■ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | 359 |
| Manila | ||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ MNL SQ910 |
■ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | 359R |
| MNL ➔ SIN SQ917 |
■ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | 359R |
| Melbourne (from 8 Jun) |
||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ MEL SQ217 |
■ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | 359 |
| MEL ➔ SIN SQ218 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | 359 |
| SIN ➔ MEL SQ237 |
■ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | 359 |
| MEL ➔ SIN SQ238 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | 359 |
| Osaka (from 12 Jun) |
||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ KIX SQ622 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | 787 |
| KIX ➔ SIN SQ623 |
□ | □ |
□ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | 787 |
| Paris (from 15 Jul) |
||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ CDG SQ336 |
□ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | 359 |
| CDG ➔ SIN SQ335 |
□ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | □ | 359 |
| Shanghai | ||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ PVG SQ830 |
■ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | 787 |
| PVG ➔ SIN SQ833 |
■ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | 787 |
| Seoul | ||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ ICN SQ600 |
□ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | 359R |
| ICN ➔ SIN SQ609 |
□ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | 359R |
| Sydney (until 7 Jun) |
||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ SYD SQ211 |
□ | ■ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | 77W |
| SYD ➔ SIN SQ232 |
■ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | 77W |
| Sydney (from 8 Jun) |
||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ SYD SQ231 |
■ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | 359 |
| SYD ➔ SIN SQ232 |
■ | ■ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | □ | 359 |
| SIN ➔ SYD SQ288 |
□ | ■ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | 359 |
| SYD ➔ SIN via BNE SQ288 |
□ | ■ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | 359 |
SQ288 Sydney to Singapore flights (the old Canberra flight number) operate via Brisbane on the journey back to Singapore.
| Tokyo | ||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ NRT SQ638 |
□ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | ■ | 787 |
| NRT ➔ SIN SQ637 |
□ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | ■ | 787 |
| Zurich | ||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ ZRH SQ346 |
□ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | 359* |
| ZRH ➔ SIN SQ345 |
■ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | □ | 359* |
* 77W until 8 Jun
As you can see Singapore Airlines is dedicating its passenger flights to two aircraft types from around 9th June 2020 through to the end of July – the Airbus A350 (3-class and Regional variants) and Boeing 787-10.
Previously Boeing 777-300ERs were also being used but this no longer appears to be the case.
SilkAir
In addition to the single flight to and from Chongqing SilkAir has been consistently serving from Changi in April and May, this month sees the following destinations added:
Cebu(cancelled)- Kuala Lumpur (SQ also operating)
- Medan
SilkAir’s operations took an even sharper dive than those of its mainline parent due to COVID-19, with less than half the usual passenger flight schedule operating in March 2020 and almost zero services in both April and May.
As the graph shows, there are signs of life in June and July.
SilkAir will be running the following passenger flights to and from 4 cities during June and July 2020.
| New services or increased frequencies are highlighted in yellow |
All SilkAir flights not listed below are cancelled during this period.
| Cebu (from 24 Jun) |
||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ CEB MI560 |
□ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | 738 |
| CEB ➔ SIN MI559 |
□ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | 738 |
| Chongqing | ||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ CKG MI972 |
■ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | 738 |
| CKG ➔ SIN MI971 |
■ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | 738 |
| Kuala Lumpur (from 13 Jun) |
||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ KUL MI324 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | ■ | 738 |
| KUL ➔ SIN MI323 |
□ |
□ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | ■ | 738 |
| Medan (from 9 Jun) |
||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ KNO MI234 |
□ | ■ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | □ | 738 |
| KNO ➔ SIN MI233 |
□ | ■ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | □ | 738 |
This lifts SilkAir’s operations to a full ‘flying line’ occupying a Boeing 737-800 every day of the week.
Scoot
As we mentioned earlier in this article, Scoot has started adding flights and cities to its June 2020 schedule, with 26 flights per week across six destinations from Singapore.
Compared to SIA and SilkAir, the budget subsidiary tends to hold back on its schedule announcements until closer to the time and has not yet confirmed whether further frequencies and destinations will be added in July 2020.
Hopefully we can bring you more news on that in mid-June.
What if your flight has been cancelled?
You may be protected by SIA’s latest travel waiver policy, in which case you can:
- Apply for a full cash refund; or
- Receive a travel credit voucher including a bonus credit against a future booking
See our article here covering the latest travel waiver policy for details, or check the SIA website here.
August onwards
As with previous months, Singapore Airlines continues to load practically its full schedule in GDS from 1st August 2020, then later announces which services will actually go ahead.
Do remember that these plans are subject to significant further cuts based on the coronavirus situation closer to the time, so we expect a revised service operation list for August 2020 to be announced closer to the time.
Fingers crossed for a similar increase in services, as we start to welcome back even more of the airline’s usual cities to the network in the coming weeks.
Summary
A much more significant increase than we were expecting for Singapore Airlines’ flying network, with 75% more services running in July 2020 compared to May 2020.
New routes start appearing as early as next week, from 8th June, as the airline no doubt capitalises on new transit flight permissions through Changi Airport starting tomorrow.
A third of all ‘usual’ passengers at Changi are in transit, so this is a huge market segment for SIA, and the group is clearly keen to capitalise on it.
With 27 destinations in total between Singapore Airline and SilkAir, plus six Scoot routes, there is truly cause for some optimism at last.
(Cover Photo: Thiago B Trevisan / Shutterstock)