Singapore Airlines and SilkAir have announced their flight schedules through to the end of April 2021, adding an additional month to the previously confirmed route list, which was published through to 27th March 2021.
Though the current plans for the passenger route network remain largely the same as in March 2021, some notable changes include a return to Taipei for Singapore Airlines and a 150% increase in flights to the Maldives for SilkAir.
Overall the SIA Group will operate 25% of its pre-COVID passenger capacity by April 2021, its largest schedule in almost a year.
Sydney, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, London and Tokyo will be be the most frequently served destinations, each receiving two daily services, while 17 additional cities benefit from daily connections, including Amsterdam, Frankfurt and New York.
Headline figures
In total SIA and SilkAir will fly approximately 2,250 passenger flights during April 2021, their highest total since the pandemic hit, causing schedules to be decimated to a bare-bones operation with just 4% of usual capacity back in April 2020.
“The Group’s passenger capacity will reach approximately 25% of its pre-Covid-19 levels by the end of April 2021.”
Singapore Airlines, 22 January 2021
Singapore Airlines Schedule
Since our last update, when Dubai, Moscow and Tokyo Haneda were added to the passenger network, the following additions have also been made:
- Taipei (from 31st March)
Singapore Airlines originally re-added Taipei to the passenger network three times per week in September 2020, but transferred the route to Scoot in mid-December 2020.
Scoot has not announced its April 2021 schedule yet, however SIA is returning to the Taipei route three times per week with the Boeing 787-10 from 31st March 2021.
Shenzhen, which has not been a regular Singapore Airlines route since 2003/04, made a weekly reappearance from mid-November 2020, however this service will not be continued into the upcoming summer season with the last flight operating on 21st March 2021.
Here’s a map of the Asia-Pacific destinations Singapore Airlines will be serving by April 2021.
Note: Shenzhen ends 21st March 2021, Taipei starts 31st March 2021.
In addition, three US destinations, nine European cities, Istanbul in Turkey and Johannesburg in South Africa will continue to be served.
Singapore Airlines will be running the following passenger route network between February 2021 and April 2021.
All routes not listed below are cancelled during this period, or will have cargo-only operation.
= Newly added
| Singapore Airlines Routes Short-haul & Asia (Feb – Apr 2021) |
||||
| City | Month | Acft | ||
| Feb | Mar | Apr | ||
| Bangkok | 7/wk | 7/wk | 7/wk | 77W |
| Brunei | 3/wk | 3/wk | 3/wk | 738 |
| Colombo | 3/wk | 3/wk | 3/wk | 359R |
| Dhaka | 4/wk |
4/wk | 4/wk | 359R |
| Fukuoka | 1/wk | 1/wk | 1/wk | 787 |
| Hanoi | 7/wk | 7/wk | 7/wk | 359R |
| Ho Chi Minh | 7/wk | 7/wk | 7/wk | 77W |
| Hong Kong | 7/wk | 7/wk | 7/wk | 359 |
| Jakarta | 14/wk | 14/wk | 14/wk | 359 |
| Kuala Lumpur | 7/wk | 7/wk | 7/wk | 77W |
| Manila | 7/wk | 7/wk | 7/wk | 359R |
| Nagoya | 3/wk | 3/wk | 3/wk | 787 |
| Osaka | 7/wk | 7/wk | 7/wk | 359R |
| Seoul | 6/wk |
6/wk | 6/wk | 787 |
| Shanghai | 1/wk | 1/wk | 1/wk | 787 |
| Shenzhen | 1/wk | 1/wk (till 21/3) |
— | 359R |
| Taipei | — | — | 3/wk | 787 |
| Tokyo Haneda | 3/wk (fm 9/2) |
7/wk | 7/wk | 359R |
| Tokyo Narita | 7/wk | 7/wk | 7/wk | 787 |
| Total | 95/wk |
99/wk | 101/wk | |
The latest updated schedules including days of operation is available at this dedicated page on the Singapore Airlines website.
Note that in addition to the Taipei and Shenzhen changes mentioned earlier, Seoul did not receive its planned 7th weekly flight in January 2021 and will remain a 6 times weekly operation.
| Singapore Airlines Routes Australia & Long-haul (Feb – Apr 2021) |
||||
| City | Month | Acft | ||
| Feb | Mar | Apr | ||
| Adelaide | 3/wk | 3/wk | 3/wk | 359* 359R |
| Amsterdam | 7/wk | 7/wk | 7/wk | 359 |
| Auckland | 7/wk | 7/wk | 7/wk | 359 |
| Barcelona | 3/wk | 3/wk | 3/wk | 359 |
| Brisbane | 6/wk | 6/wk | 6/wk | 359R |
| Christchurch | 3/wk | 3/wk | 3/wk | 359 |
| Copenhagen | 3/wk | 3/wk | 3/wk | 359 |
| Dubai | 5/wk | 5/wk | 5/wk | 359R |
| Frankfurt | 7/wk | 7/wk | 7/wk | 359 |
| Istanbul | 1/wk | 1/wk | 1/wk | 359 |
| Johannesburg | 5/wk |
5/wk | 5/wk | 359 |
| London | 14/wk | 14/wk | 14/wk | 359 |
| Los Angeles | 7/wk | 7/wk | 7/wk | 359 |
| Melbourne | 7/wk | 7/wk | 7/wk | 359R |
| Milan | 3/wk | 3/wk | 3/wk | 359 |
| Moscow | 3/wk | 3/wk | 3/wk | 359 |
| Munich | 3/wk |
3/wk | 3/wk | 359 |
| New York JFK | 7/wk |
7/wk |
7/wk | 359ULR |
| Paris | 7/wk | 7/wk | 7/wk | 359 |
| Perth | 7/wk | 7/wk | 7/wk | 359* 787 |
| San Francisco | 7/wk | 7/wk | 7/wk | 359ULR |
| Sydney | 14/wk | 14/wk | 14/wk | 359R |
| Zurich | 7/wk | 7/wk | 7/wk | 359 |
| Total | 136/wk |
136/wk | 136/wk | |
* Selected flights in February 2021 will use 3-class A350s
The latest updated schedules including days of operation is available at this dedicated page on the Singapore Airlines website.
Sydney flights have now dropped from 15 per week to 14, with the SQ288 ‘triangle’ flight (SIN-SYD-BNE-SIN) no longer operating.
There are still 10 European routes, with the recent reintroduction of Munich services in January 2021. London Heathrow is by far the carrier’s busiest route in the region, with two daily flights, despite the United Kingdom now being in a new lockdown due to COVID-19.
Transit passengers are flying from London again on Singapore Airlines, to Auckland and Sydney, but must remain on board the aircraft during the transit at Changi, meaning 24 hours on the same plane!
More Boeing 777-300ER flights
With the airline’s Airbus A350 fleet now very stretched, recent months have seen an increasing number of flights operated by the Boeing 777-300ER again, with the type having originally been almost completely removed from passenger services in June 2020, concentrating instead on cargo-only services.
The following passenger flights are now exclusively operated by the Boeing 777-300ERs:
- Bangkok (daily)
- Ho Chi Minh (daily)
- Kuala Lumpur (daily)
Interestingly these short routes did not previously have regular operation with this 4-class aircraft type. The small 4-seat First Class cabin is not offered for sale on these flights, with SIA’s top cabins still unavailable across the network until late October 2021 at the earliest according to the latest inventory.
SilkAir Schedule
SilkAir will be running the following passenger route network between February and April 2021.
All other SilkAir routes not listed below are cancelled during this period.
| SilkAir Routes (Feb – Apr 2021) |
||||
| City | Month | Acft | ||
| Feb | Mar | Apr | ||
| Cebu | 1/wk | 1/wk | 1/wk | 738 |
| Chongqing | 1/wk | 1/wk | 1/wk | 738 |
| Kathmandu | 2/wk |
2/wk | 2/wk | 738 |
| Kuala Lumpur | 7/wk | 7/wk | 7/wk | 738 |
| Malé | 2/wk | 2/wk | 5/wk | 738 |
| Medan | 1/wk | 1/wk | 1/wk | 738 |
| Phnom Penh | 7/wk |
7/wk | 7/wk | 738 |
| Phuket | 2/wk |
2/wk | 2/wk | 738 |
| Total | 23/wk |
23/wk | 26/wk | |
The latest updated schedules including days of operation is available at this dedicated page on the Singapore Airlines website.
Kathmandu has recently doubled to twice weekly operation, while the holiday hotspot of Malé in the Maldives will more than double from two to five weekly flights in April 2021.
Two flights will now be available on Saturdays, with a single flight on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
While there were high hopes of a Singapore – Maldives ‘travel bubble’ when these flights were first announced, this didn’t transpire and these flights are simply serving transit passengers and a limited number of Singapore residents willing to undergo two weeks of paid SHN in a hotel on their return.
An increase to five times weekly service is unlikely to be too meaningful, so don’t get your hopes up!
Otherwise the SilkAir schedule remains relatively consistent, including the airline’s upcoming return to Phuket in early February, though leisure trips to the island remain a complicated affair at the time of writing.
SilkAir continues to operate and plan its passenger flights exclusively using its Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with the carrier’s Airbus A319s and A320s in storage and in the process of being returned to lessors.
Boeing 737-800 flights not yet confirmed
There are still no signs in the schedules of the Boeing 737-800 entering service with Singapore Airlines, though this should start happening in the coming months as the first batch of aircraft move across from SilkAir.
The first of the carrier’s Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft has now been returned to Singapore, with the other five set to follow, however these too are nowhere to be seen in the schedules at this stage, while they await recertification from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS).
These jets are due to join the mainline SIA fleet along with 31 others on order, and should see the advent of flat-bed seats in Business Class for the narrow-body fleet.
Summary
April 2021 marks the first month of the northern summer schedule season, with Singapore Airlines maintaining mostly the same passenger flight network following its recent ramp-up of many US and Europe frequencies and the addition of Dubai, Moscow and Tokyo Haneda.
Taipei makes a return to the mainline route map, however Shenzhen services will cease around the same time.
On the fleet side, with Airbus A350s and Boeing 787s now all in use and availability stretched, there’s a return for the Boeing 777-300ERs on some shorter flights, though the First Class cabin is still not being offered.
For SilkAir, the most notable change is a 150% increase in flight frequencies to and from Malé. So far the flights haven’t coincided with any relaxation of travel restrictions for those returning to Singapore from the Maldives, and this latest change is unlikely to point to anything concrete, but we’ve still got our fingers crossed!
Introduction of Boeing 737-800s into the SIA fleet in the coming months will also improve flexibility and reduce operating costs, especially on cargo-light routes, and we’ll be very interested to see where on the network the type is initially deployed as these will not necessarily be former SilkAir destinations.
(Cover Photo: AirImages / Shutterstock)