With a growing fleet of new and refitted Airbus A380s, and a recent announcement of the type’s withdrawal from the Delhi route, we’ve been eagerly awaiting news of new cities for the carrier’s flagship superjumbos during the upcoming northern winter season.
At least some of the reveal has now been confirmed, with the airline upgauging its daily Hong Kong service from the Boeing 777-300ER to the Airbus A380 from 1st December 2022, which will offer significantly increased capacity on a route that’s already set to also receive a second and third daily service in the months ahead.
The schedule
Between now and 30th November 2022, Singapore Airlines is serving the Hong Kong route once per day using Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, however this flight will shift to the Airbus A380 effective from 1st December 2022 until at least the end of the northern winter season on 25th March 2023.
The schedule from December onwards is shown below.
Singapore Airlines
Singapore – Hong Kong Schedule
(1st December 2022 – 25th March 2023)
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
 |
SQ894 A380 |
||||||||
| SIN 13:05 |
HKG 17:05 |
||||||||
|
SQ895 A380 |
||||||||
| HKG 18:50 |
SIN 22:50 |
||||||||
In a shift from pre-COVID operation, A380 service to Hong Kong will now be on the early afternoon departure from Singapore, arriving into Hong Kong in the evening, with evening departure on the return sector landing back into Changi shortly before 11pm each day.
Flight time is 4 hours in each direction, quite a nice ‘taster’ of the new cabins on the A380 if you haven’t experienced them before.
If you’re lucky enough to already be booked on the existing SQ894/895 services after 1st December, it’ll be a pleasant treat since you should now find your Boeing 777-300ER booking has been updated to reflect the Airbus A380, and that means the new Suites for those of you originally booked in First Class.
Singapore Airlines also recently announced that a second and third daily Hong Kong service will be reinstated this winter, pending confirmation and regulatory approval. It will be interesting to see whether this represents a restart of the popular San Francisco via Hong Kong service, which is a possibility.
KrisFlyer awards
Here are the latest one-way KrisFlyer award rates you’ll pay for the Singapore – Hong Kong route, on this Airbus A380 flight and any other reinstated services.
| KrisFlyer Redemption Singapore ⇄ Hong Kong |
||
| Saver | Advantage | |
| Economy | 16,500 | 30,000 |
| Premium Economy | 26,500 | n/a |
| Business | 34,000 | 50,000 |
| First / Suites | 45,000 | 73,000 |
As you might expect, most dates between now and the end of January 2023 only have Advantage Suites awards loaded at this stage, based on our initial searches, a steep ask at 73,000 miles one-way.
However, it is possible to waitlist for a Saver Suites award on most dates, which may be worth a try. PPS Club members may also be able to access immediately-confirmable Saver space in this cabin, since they enjoy slightly better award space than other members.
We did start to see some Saver Suites awards (two per flight in some cases!) coming up from early February 2023, if you’re doing some advance planning.
This could be a good way to use up any expiring miles you have early next year, now that Singapore Airlines has confirmed there will be no further complimentary validity extensions.
New cabin products
All Singapore Airlines A380 Version 3 aircraft have the latest cabin products, including the new Suites and Business Class seats, which means you’ll also find them on these new Hong Kong flights.
There’s also a large 44-seat Premium Economy Class section, in the space the Suites cabin used to occupy at the forward main deck.
The aircraft also feature the latest KrisWorld in-flight entertainment system and Wi-Fi connectivity.
Here are our reviews of the Suites (double bed) and Business Class cabins on these A380s.
Hong Kong is quarantine-free, but complex
Hong Kong finally relaxed its hotel quarantine requirement for arriving visitors from 26th September 2022, however the overall process remains complex with multiple tests and three days of limited access to public spaces like restaurants (Amber code restrictions).
That makes leisure trips too much hassle for most of our readers right now, but there are already rumours of further relaxations from a “0 + 3” to a “0 + 0” concept (i.e. no movement restrictions), potentially as soon as this month.
Hopefully by the time these new A380 flights get up and running the process will be much simplified!
More A380 routes to come?
This schedule update for Singapore Airlines’ A380 fleet effectively simply replaces the Delhi service, which is shifting back to Boeing 777-300ER operation on 1st December, and does not yet take account of the carrier’s recent completion of its latest cabin refit, with 11 of the superjumbos now set to be at its disposal this winter.
That means we should still see further route or flight additions for the type in the weeks ahead, potentially including a second daily Sydney link, or even a Tokyo service.
Stay tuned as we’ll always bring you the latest details of the carrier’s A380 services as soon as we receive them.
Confirmed routes
While there’s almost inevitably more to come, here’s where you’ll definitely find the Singapore Airlines superjumbo fleet deployed this winter, based on confirmed schedules at the time of writing, including this new Hong Kong addition.
Singapore Airlines A380 Flights
(as of 12th October 2022)
| Current Flights | ||
| Route | Commenced | Frequency |
| London SQ322/317 |
18 Nov 2021 | 7 x weekly |
| Sydney SQ231/222 |
1 Dec 2021 | 7 x weekly |
| Mumbai SQ424/423 |
14 Mar 2022 | 7 x weekly |
| Frankfurt SQ26/25 |
27 Mar 2022 | 7 x weekly |
| New York JFK* SQ26/25 |
27 Mar 2022 | 7 x weekly |
| Shanghai SQ830/833 |
4 Jul 2022 | 1 x weekly |
| Delhi SQ406/403 |
15 Apr 2022 (ends 30 Nov 2022) |
7 x weekly |
| Future Flights | ||
| Route | Starts | Frequency |
 London SQ308/319 (in addition to SQ322/317) |
30 Oct 2022 | 7 x weekly |
Hong Kong SQ894/895 |
1 Dec 2022 | 7 x weekly |
* via Frankfurt
Summary
Singapore Airlines will resume A380 operations to and from Hong Kong in December 2022, with a daily afternoon / evening service now loaded into the schedule, a significant capacity increase from the Boeing 777-300ER it is replacing.
This will once again bring the latest A380 cabin products to a short regional route, with the new Suites and Business Class experience on board.
Hopefully Hong Kong will ease its entry requirements further in the coming weeks, while we also expect to hear about other A380 routes too, given that another refit has now been completed and this Hong Kong addition effectively just “replaces” Delhi on the superjumbo’s roster.
(Cover Photo: Plane’s Portrait Aviation Media / Malcolm Lu)
Isn’t HKG going 3 daily (ofc once approval is granted) regardless of the A380 on one of its flights?
I suspect that even if SFO via HKG returns it may be the 77W and the morning SQ8 from SIN, afternoon SQ7 from SFO like last year. If it means a return within the Christmas & New Year period, I’ll look to switch from the nonstop to the one via HKG. We just have to wait & see where this goes. Oct 30 would technically be the launch date for the other daily HKG flights so we have some time.
Ah yes you’re right. It’s 2 daily now, which was dropping to 1 daily from 30th October, so there’s an additional two daily services still to come because SIA said it “aims” for 3 daily, at some point this winter anyway. Thanks for the heads-up.
I’m sure SFO via HKG will be back (probably 77W), then maybe an A350 for third service? Let’s see!
Fingers crossed! It could even be an A350 on the fifth freedom route but previously it has usually been a 77W if the SFO via HKG route returns (A350 long haul with Y class is currently at 11 times a week) and there is no First class offered on the SFO route still.
I am based in SFO, my mom took the 350 nonstop once and she prefers the 77W in terms of comfort (it was evident when she returned back with me via HKG on the 77W) and I have never flown an A350, but my dad has and he’s fine with it.
As long as the 77W is there and I fly SQ now & then to India, I’ll take it before the 779’s come in a few years.
For SFO-HKG, cargo has always been important so 777 more likely ba