Singapore Airlines to axe Copenhagen – Rome fifth freedom route

Singapore Airlines has launched a few “fifth freedom” routes over the last couple of years, as the pandemic forced the airline to seek limited commercial opportunities for passenger traffic far from Singapore, while borders at home and in its regular markets remained tightly restricted.

The first of those kicked off in July last year, and took the form of a three times weekly service between Copenhagen in Denmark and Rome in Italy, the first time the airline had operated passenger flights on the route with travellers able to book tickets solely for the intra-Europe legs, without onward travel plans to or from Singapore.

Flights have since increased to five times weekly on the route.

Copenhagen – Rome axed from June

Singapore Airlines is amending its operation to these cities from June 2022, and so the final service on this intra-Europe route will operate as follows:

• SQ352 Copenhagen to Rome: 31st May 2022
• SQ351 Rome to Copenhagen: 1st June 2022

If you’re keen to experience this short intra-Europe hop on a Singapore Airlines wide-body Airbus A350 before it ceases, here are the five times weekly flights you’ll need to book between now and then.

Copenhagen – Rome Schedule
Now – 31st May 2022

			Days
			M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	SQ352 A350 Long Haul
CPH 08:15		FCO 10:40
	SQ351 SQ353 A350 Long Haul
FCO 08:20		CPH 10:50

Note: Slight timing adjustments to the above effective from 27th March 2022

Operating days for the return flight from Rome to Copenhagen look unusual, because the aircraft rests on the ground for 20 hours in Italy before heading back to Singapore (via Denmark).

One-way KrisFlyer miles redemptions on this short intra-Europe flight are:

• Economy: 10,000 miles
• Premium: 17,000 miles
• Business: 30,000 miles

Better still though – cash fares are competitive, starting at around S$120 in Economy and S$430 in Business, so it’s really not worth burning miles if you’re still planning to take this “fifth freedom” service before it disappears.

The service has certainly been popular with travel bloggers and vloggers, eager to get a rare and inexpensive long-haul experience on a short flight like this, as you can see at the following links:

• Singapore Airlines, Europe’s best way to fly – Copenhagen-Rome Business Class Review
• Singapore Airlines’ BRILLIANT A350 Business Class: Copenhagen to Rome (video)

Singapore Airlines will continue to operate its only other intra-Europe “fifth freedom” route, between Milan and Barcelona, which it secured traffic rights on in January 2022.

Copenhagen continues (VTL)

Five times weekly Airbus A350 flights between Singapore and Copenhagen will continue to operate as they do now, including designated VTL status on the flights to Changi for a quarantine-free arrival.

Singapore – Copenhagen Schedule
Now – 31st May 2022

			Days
			M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	SQ352 A350 Long Haul
SIN 00:30		CPH 06:30
	SQ351 SQ353 A350 Long Haul VTL
CPH 12:30		SIN 07:30*

* Next day
Note: Slight timing adjustments to the above effective from 27th March – 31 May 2022

Without the Rome continuation, operating days and timings are adjusted from 1st June 2022. The Thursday service is also dropped, in favour of a Saturday flight, as shown below.

Singapore – Copenhagen Schedule
1st June – 29th October 2022

			Days
			M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	SQ352 A350 Long Haul
SIN 00:30		CPH 06:55
	SQ351 A350 Long Haul VTL
CPH 12:20		SIN 06:20*

* Next day

Rome gets non-stop VTL flights

Good news is that instead of cutting Rome off the route map, Singapore Airlines will reinstate its dedicated non-stop SQ366/365 service from 3rd June 2022, with Airbus A350s operating three times per week.

All three flights will return to Singapore as designated VTL services. Here’s how the schedule looks.

Singapore – Rome Schedule
3rd June – 28th October 2022

			Days
			M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	SQ366 A350 Long Haul
SIN 01:30		FCO 08:05
	SQ365 A350 Long Haul VTL
FCO 12:00		SIN 06:00*

* Next day

This will be the first time Singapore Airlines has served Rome non-stop since the SQ366/365 service was suspended on 14th March 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 crisis when travellers arriving from Germany, Italy, France and Spain were temporarily not be allowed to visit or transit through Singapore.

This will also be Italy’s second non-stop VTL link to Singapore, with Milan services already part of the quarantine-free scheme, as shown in the schedule below (click to expand).

When Singapore Airlines extended its Copenhagen service to Rome in July 2021, it was likely a way of serving two cities on its European network more efficiently, while Singapore’s border measures remained strict.

There was the added bonus of “fifth freedom” traffic rights, to tap into some intra-Europe demand, which meant competitive fares for great cabin products compared to rivals like SAS and Norwegian on this route.

There’s still around three months to try and work one of these novel intra-Europe flights into your itinerary, but later in the summer it’s a thing of the past, with both Copenhagen and Rome reverting to non-stop flights again – another step towards pre-COVID normality.

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