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