News SilkAir Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines adds more destinations with expanded June-July schedule

Singapore Airlines and SilkAir are adding a dozen new routes to their network starting next week, with 75% more flights by July 2020

SQ 77W Takeoff LAX (Thiago B Trevisan SS)

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.

SQ A350 3
Singapore Airlines is ramping up flights from 8th June 2020

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.

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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

SQ Graph JanJul

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.

SQ Routemap JunJul APAC
(click to enlarge)
SQ Routemap JunJul EURUS
(click to enlarge)

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

SQtrans small

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.

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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

MI Graph Jan-Jul

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.

MI Routemap JunJul
(click to enlarge)

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

MI logo

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.

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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.

TR 320 (JetKat SS)
Scoot is ramping up its schedule from June 2020, but has still to confirm its plans for July. (Photo: JetKat / Shutterstock)

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.

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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.

Changi Jewel Sunset (CAG)
Changi is permitting transit passengers from 2nd June 2020. (Photo: Changi Airport Group)

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)

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15 comments

  1. I wonder what are the propsects for SilkAir’s A319 and A320 fleet.

    Do the airline still have plans to operate them as the industry recovers from COVID, or will we be bidding farewell to them?

  2. I wonder what will happen to SilkAir’s A319s and A320s.

    Will they still be operating as the industry recovers from the pandemic, or will we never get to fly on them ever again?

    1. The A319s are at least needed for the Koh Samui route for now, due to some unusual ‘politics’ with Bangkok Airways (the owner of USM airport). There is no indication how/if that will resolve into an all-Boeing MI or SQ narrow-body fleet. The A320s may well be dead though.

  3. As long as travellers still need to self-quarantine for 14 days overseas and back in Singapore (and in the case of Malaysia, need to pay quarantine money daily), I doubt people are willing to travel for leisure.

    1. Indeed. These services are likely in preparation for SIA’s transit flight approval through Changi and in anticipation of ‘green lane’ essential / business travel between certain countries.

  4. Why on earth Singapore airlines has left out Perth having in mind that WA is the economic power house of Australia and also the safest Covid 19 state? Why Brisbane and Adelaide and not Perth?
    It really doesn’t make much sense. Perth should be added immediately to SIA schedule for June.

  5. Is there any hope it resumes flights to India soon. May be in early July if not June. Hopefully certain cities of India is still safe to travel.

    1. That’s not known yet unfortunately. There are flights to LAX and you can take a domestic flight to New York from there.

      Other options include Qatar Airways via Doha, Emirates via Dubai and Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong.

  6. SQ should reconsider introducing the Canberra-Melbourne- Singapore flights as this is very familiar to all airline travelers and the route is well patronised.

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