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Singapore Airlines announces July 2021 schedule

Singapore Airlines adds Medan and Cape Town to its passenger network in the latest update, while also expanding Boeing 777-300ER operation to the USA - including a First Class cabin.

Singapore Airlines and SilkAir have announced their flight schedules through to the end of July 2021, adding an additional month to the previously confirmed route list, which was published through to 30th June 2021.

We’ve already seen a switchover for SilkAir’s Medan route to the mainline carrier using Boeing 737-800s, leaving Cape Town as the only new upcoming destination from 1st July, operated as an extension to two of the five weekly Johannesburg services.

Again a large number of frequency increases are also apparent on the network, with routes like Bangkok, Brisbane, Manila and Melbourne going twice daily in the coming months.

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Boeing 777-300ER service also continues to expand, including the reintroduction of First Class cabins, on routes like London, Los Angeles, Sydney and Jakarta.

Overall SIA and SilkAir will serve 51 cities globally with passenger flights by July 2021.

The passenger network over the next three months is set to be served by the following aircraft types:

  • Airbus A350-900s
  • Boeing 737-800s
  • Boeing 777-300ERs
  • Boeing 787-10s
Singapore Airlines will return to Cape Town with passenger flights from July. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Jakarta will remain the airline’s busiest passenger route with 21 weekly flights, followed by Kuala Lumpur and London with 18 flights per week each.

Headline figures

In total SIA and SilkAir will fly over 3,160 passenger flights during July 2021, its highest total since the COVID-19 pandemic slashed schedules in April 2020.

Top 5 routes (July 2021):

  • Jakarta: 21/wk
  • Kuala Lumpur: 18/wk
  • London: 18/wk
  • Sydney: 16/wk
  • Tokyo: 15/wk

These five cities alone represent 25% of all planned Singapore Airlines passenger services by flight frequency in July 2021 (pre-COVID, they accounted for about 20%).

There are also an additional five routes served 14 times weekly (twice per day), plus 17 routes served between 7-13 times a week (i.e. at least daily).

Singapore Airlines schedule

Aside from recently taking over former SilkAir Boeing 737-800 flights to and from Medan, Singapore Airlines will add Cape Town to its route network in July.

Here’s a map of the Asia-Pacific destinations Singapore Airlines will be serving by July 2021.

(click to enlarge)

In addition, three US destinations, 11 European cities, Dubai in the Middle East and both Cape Town and Johannesburg in South Africa will be served.

(click to enlarge)

Singapore Airlines will be running the following passenger route network between May 2021 and July 2021.

SQtrans small

All routes not listed below are cancelled during this period, or will have cargo-only operation.

= Newly added

Singapore Airlines Routes
Short-haul & Asia

(May – Jul 2021)
City Month Acft
May Jun Jul
Bangkok 10/wk   14/wk   14/wk 359
359R
77W

Brunei 3/wk 3/wk 3/wk 738
Chongqing 1/wk 1/wk 1/wk 738
Colombo 5/wk 5/wk 5/wk 359R
  Denpasar   7/wk 787
Dhaka 5/wk
  7/wk   7/wk 359R
Fukuoka 2/wk 2/wk 2/wk 787
Hanoi* 11/wk 11/wk   14/wk 359R
Ho Chi Minh* 7/wk 7/wk
(till 15/6)

  10/wk
(fm 16/6)
  10/wk 359
77W
Hong Kong 7/wk 7/wk 7/wk 359
77W
Jakarta 21/wk 21/wk 21/wk 359
77W
Kuala Lumpur 14/wk 14/wk   18/wk 738
77W
Malé    5/wk
(was 3/wk)
  7/wk   7/wk 738
Manila 10/wk 10/wk   14/wk 359R
787
  Medan   2/wk   2/wk   2/wk 738
Nagoya 3/wk 3/wk 3/wk 787
Osaka 7/wk 7/wk 7/wk 359R
Phnom Penh 7/wk
7/wk 7/wk 738
Phuket 2/wk
2/wk   7/wk 738
Seoul 6/wk
6/wk 6/wk 787
Shanghai 1/wk 1/wk 1/wk 787
Shenzhen 1/wk 1/wk 1/wk 359R
Taipei 3/wk   7/wk   7/wk 787
Tokyo Haneda    7/wk
(was 3/wk)
7/wk
(till 15/6)

  3/wk
(fm 16/6)
  3/wk 359R
Tokyo Narita 7/wk
7/wk
(till 15/6)

  11/wk
(fm 16/6)
  11/wk 77W
787
Yangon* 2/wk 2/wk 2/wk 359R
Total 142/wk
153/wk
(fm 16/6)
176/wk  

* Cargo-only from Singapore, passengers and cargo back to Singapore
The latest updated schedules including days of operation is available at this dedicated page on the Singapore Airlines website.

Of interest, a Premium Economy cabin is being offered on the additional four Bangkok flights per week using three-class Airbus A350 aircraft from next month, however this section is only bookable by passengers on connecting long-haul itineraries (e.g. London – Singapore – Bangkok).

First time we have seen Premium Economy offered all the way to Bangkok

Denpasar (Bali) passenger flights were not able to restart as planned this month, with Singapore Airlines saying these will be “postponed until further notice due to the suspension of passenger flights to/from Denpasar by the Indonesian authorities”. Flights have been tentatively rescheduled seven times per week from July using Boeing 787-10s.

Medan is the latest addition in Asia, having been transferred from SilkAir.

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There continue to be a number of significant frequency increases planned, including to and from Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Malé.

= Newly added

Singapore Airlines Routes
Australia & Long-haul

(May – Jul 2021)
City Month Acft
May Jun Jul
Adelaide 3/wk 3/wk 3/wk 359R
Amsterdam 7/wk 7/wk 7/wk 359
Auckland 7/wk   10/wk   10/wk 359
Barcelona
(via MXP)
3/wk 3/wk 3/wk 359
Brisbane 10/wk 10/wk   14/wk 359R
  Cape Town
(via JNB)
  2/wk 359
Christchurch 3/wk   4/wk   4/wk 359
Copenhagen 3/wk 3/wk 3/wk 359
Dubai 5/wk 5/wk 5/wk 359R
Frankfurt 7/wk 7/wk    10/wk 359
Istanbul 2/wk 2/wk 2/wk 359
Johannesburg 5/wk
5/wk 5/wk 359
London 17/wk   18/wk   18/wk 359
77W
Los Angeles 7/wk 7/wk
(till 15/6)

  12/wk
(fm 16/6)
  12/wk 359
77W
Melbourne 7/wk 7/wk   14/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 11/wk 11/wk 11/wk 787
San Francisco 7/wk 7/wk 7/wk 359ULR
Sydney 16/wk 16/wk 16/wk 359R
77W
787
Zurich 7/wk 7/wk 7/wk 359
Total 150/wk
160/wk
(fm 16/6)
176/wk  

The latest updated schedules including days of operation is available at this dedicated page on the Singapore Airlines website.

Melbourne flights are doubling to twice daily from July, while Brisbane, Auckland and Frankfurt also see significant frequency increases.

London remains the busiest long-haul route, with 18 weekly services, including a First Class option on Boeing 777-300ERs once per day.

Speaking of First Class on the Boeing 777s, Los Angeles and Tokyo will be the newest cities to receive this cabin, five times weekly from 16th June.

Cape Town is a new long-haul destination from July, with two out of five weekly Johannesburg flights continuing to the city, before returning straight to Singapore.

The new Singapore – Johannesburg – Cape Town – Singapore ‘triangle’ route

That’s unlike the route’s pre-COVID setup, where a SIN-JNB-CPT-JNB-SIN pattern was flown, so this will represent the first time SIA has operated non-stop Cape Town to Singapore flights in many many years.

Cape Town – Singapore in Business Class remains one of the best KrisFlyer redemptions on the network, and for now you can fly it non-stop

SilkAir Schedule

SilkAir is being gradually wound down as aircraft and routes move across to Singapore Airlines, however the carrier is still operating and is planned to continue serving a single route to and from Kathmandu over the coming months with its own flight numbers.

MI logo

All other SilkAir routes not listed below are cancelled during this period.

SilkAir Routes
(May – Jul 2021)
City Month Acft
May Jun Jul
Cebu Transferred to Scoot 738
Chongqing Transferred to SIA 738
Kathmandu 4/wk 4/wk 4/wk 738
Kuala Lumpur Transferred to SIA 738
Malé Transferred to SIA 738
Medan Transferred to SIA 738
Phnom Penh Transferred to SIA 738
Phuket Transferred to SIA 738
Total 4/wk
4/wk 4/wk  

The latest updated schedules including days of operation is available at this dedicated page on the Singapore Airlines website.

Four flights per week is a very limited schedule and we expect the full merger of SilkAir into SIA and the eventual disbanding of the former brand will probably happen in the coming months.

As the SilkAir – SIA merger moves into its final lap, don’t miss our full rundown of what to expect on board the narrow-body Boeing 737 aircraft, now in service on a range of routes.



 


 

Summary

This month we’re seeing a significant reduction in SilkAir flights, now planned to operate only four times a week on a single route, almost certainly meaning we’ll be bidding farewell to the regional wing very soon.

Meanwhile there are plenty of frequency increases in store for the passenger network, with Cape Town being the latest city added to the route map from July.

Nearly 12 hours in SIA’s Airbus A350 long-haul Business Class is available for 49,000 miles again, with the restart of Cape Town flights. (Photo: High Tech Flight)

With Airbus A350s and Boeing 787-10s working hard, there are more flights on the Boeing 777-300ER, including First Class cabins to the likes of London, Sydney and Los Angeles.

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COVID-19 border restrictions remain in force, but there is some light at the end of the tunnel as vaccinations roll out and countries like Australia propose international travel bubbles with Singapore.

Let’s hope before long we are reporting on more SIA routes we can actually use for leisure travel, not just Hong Kong!

(Cover Photo: Plane’s Portrait Aviation Media / Malcolm Lu)

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