Update: Singapore Airlines has now revealed its schedule through to March 2024. See here for details.
Singapore Airlines has finalised its flight schedules including days of operation and aircraft type allocation across its network for the upcoming summer travel season, which means we now have a firm idea of where and when the carrier will be flying through to the end of October 2023.
Although flights for this period were already loaded for some time, many frequencies and aircraft types in particular were based on a ‘copy-paste’ of the pre-COVID schedules, and therefore weren’t necessarily accurate, until now.
An additional daily Airbus A380 to and from Sydney is on the cards, in addition to a daily superjumbo to Melbourne, as we recently reported, while there are nine daily Kuala Lumpur flights on selected days and five times daily Tokyo services in the pipeline from June.
Some capacity reductions are planned, however, including a reduction from 11 per week to daily for Auckland flights, and a slimmed-down schedule to both Colombo and Kathmandu.
The overall passenger network will stand at 76 destinations for the mainline carrier next summer, with around 72% of pre-COVID capacity by flight volumes restored.
Headline figures
In total Singapore Airlines will fly over 1,900 passenger flights per week by October 2023, its highest total since schedules were slashed in April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
That’s around 72% of the pre-pandemic monthly total operated on the combined SilkAir / SIA network in January 2020. SilkAir has now been fully merged into SIA.
Singapore Airlines schedule
Here’s how the flight frequencies and aircraft types on the short-haul and Asia network will look during the upcoming season, which starts on 26th March 2023 and runs through to 28th October 2023.
Aircraft types key:
- 359 MH: Airbus A350 Medium Haul
- 359 LH: Airbus A350 Long Haul
- 359 ULR: Airbus A350 ULR
- 388: Airbus A380
- 738: Boeing 737-800
- 77W: Boeing 777-300ER
- 787: Boeing 787-10
- 7M8: Boeing 737-8 MAX
| Singapore Airlines Routes Short-haul & Asia (Apr – Oct 2023) |
|||
| City | Month(s) | Acft | |
| Apr ’23 May ’23 |
Jun ’23 Oct ’23 |
||
| Ahmedabad | 5/wk | 5/wk | 359 MH |
| Bangkok | 35/wk (was 28/wk) |
35/wk | 359 MH 787-10 |
| Beijing | 1/wk | 1/wk | 359 LH |
| Bengaluru | 16/wk | 16/wk | 7M8 359 MH |
| Brunei | 5/wk | 5/wk | 7M8 |
| Busan | — |
4/wk | 7M8 |
| Chennai | 17/wk | 17/wk | 7M8 787 |
| Cebu (via DVO) |
7/wk | 7/wk | 7M8 |
| Chengdu | 1/wk |
1/wk | 359 LH |
| Chongqing | 1/wk | 1/wk | 787 |
| Cochin | 14/wk | 14/wk | 7M8 |
| Colombo | 4/wk (was 7/wk) |
4/wk | 787 |
| Da Nang | 7/wk | 7/wk | 7M8 |
| Davao | 7/wk | 7/wk | 7M8 |
| Denpasar (Bali) |
35/wk | 35/wk | 7M8 787 |
| Dhaka | 7/wk | 7/wk | 787 |
| Delhi | 14/wk | 14/wk | 388 787 |
| Fukuoka | 3/wk | 3/wk | 787 |
| Hanoi | 14/wk |
14/wk | 359 MH 7M8 |
| Ho Chi Minh | 19/wk (was 14/wk) |
19/wk | 359 MH |
| Hong Kong | 21/wk |
21/wk 28/wk (fm 1 Oct) |
359 LH 359 MH 388 77W |
| Hyderabad | 7/wk | 7/wk | 359 MH 7M8 |
| Jakarta | 42/wk | 42/wk | 359 LH 359 MH 77W |
| Kathmandu | 7/wk (was 9/wk) |
7/wk | 7M8 |
| Kolkata | 7/wk | 7/wk | 359 MH 7M8 |
| Kuala Lumpur | 55/wk (was 44/wk) |
61/wk | 359 LH 738 |
| Malé | 14/wk | 14/wk | 359 MH 7M8 |
| Manila | 28/wk | 28/wk | 359 MH 787 |
| Medan | 7/wk | 7/wk | 7M8 |
| Mumbai | 16/wk | 16/wk | 359 MH 359 LH 388 |
| Nagoya | 3/wk | 3/wk | 787 |
| Osaka | 11/wk (was 14/wk) |
14/wk |
787 |
| Penang | 14/wk |
28/wk 35/wk (fm 1 Oct) |
738 7M8 |
| Phnom Penh | 21/wk | 21/wk | 7M8 |
| Phuket | 28/wk | 28/wk | 738 |
| Seoul | 21/wk |
28/wk | 359 MH 787 |
| Shanghai | 3/wk | 3/wk | 388 |
| Shenzhen | 2/wk | 2/wk | 359 MH |
| Siem Reap | 7/wk |
10/wk | 7M8 |
| Surabaya | 10/wk | 10/wk | 359 MH 7M8 |
| Taipei | 10/wk (was 7/wk) |
14/wk | 787 |
| Tokyo Haneda | 14/wk |
21/wk | 359 MH 77W |
| Tokyo Narita | 14/wk |
14/wk | 77W 787 |
| Xiamen | 1/wk |
1/wk | 359 MH |
| Yangon | 7/wk | 7/wk | 7M8 |
| Total | 581/wk |
629/wk 643/wk (fm 1 Oct) |
|
The latest updated schedules including days of operation are available at the Singapore Airlines website.
On the short-haul network there’s a hike in Bangkok flights from four times daily back to five, with the early morning SQ706/705 flights re-added to the schedule for the summer season.
Surprisingly, the airline’s seat capacity to and from Bangkok next summer is still only 83% of pre-COVID levels, despite full border reopening.
The Singapore – Kuala Lumpur route will be back at 87% of pre-COVID frequencies with 61 weekly services by July 2023, while Taiwan, which recently relaxed its entry requirements for visitors, will see full pre-pandemic schedules again on the Singapore – Taipei route at 14 flights per week, from the same month.
Penang also sees a marked increase with 35 flights per week (5 per day) by October, 83% of pre-pandemic levels.
On the aircraft types front there’s a welcome replacement of the Boeing 737-800 with the 737-8 MAX on the morning Bali flights from April, for a fully flat-bed offering on the route in Business Class.
Malé also finally gets wide-body service again, with one of two daily flights switching across to the Airbus A350 Medium Haul next summer.
Many of our readers will be particularly pleased to see a third daily Tokyo Haneda flight on the cards from June, with a reintroduction of the overnight SQ636 service, using four-class Boeing 777-300ER aircraft which also features a First Class cabin.
The A380 will also be back on Delhi services next summer, from 26th March 2023, having been downgraded to the 777-300ER since December 2022.
Here’s how the long-haul network looks during the summer 2023 season.
| Singapore Airlines Routes Long-haul (Apr – Oct 2023) |
|||
| City | Month(s) | Acft | |
| Apr ’23 Jun ’23 |
Jul ’23 Oct ’23 |
||
| Adelaide | 7/wk | 7/wk | 359 MH |
| Amsterdam | 7/wk | 7/wk | 359 LH |
| Auckland | 7/wk (was 11/wk) |
7/wk | 359 LH |
| Barcelona (non-stop) |
— |
2/wk (Jul & Aug only) |
359 LH |
| Barcelona (via MXP) |
5/wk | 5/wk | 359 LH |
| Brisbane | 21/wk | 21/wk | 359 MH |
| Cairns | 3/wk | 5/wk |
7M8 |
| Cape Town (via JNB) |
7/wk | 7/wk | 359 LH |
| Christchurch | 7/wk | 7/wk | 359 LH |
| Copenhagen | 5/wk | 5/wk | 359 LH |
| Darwin | 3/wk | 5/wk |
7M8 |
| Dubai | 7/wk | 7/wk | 359 MH |
| Frankfurt | 14/wk | 14/wk | 359 LH 388 77W |
| Houston (via MAN) |
3/wk (was 4/wk) |
3/wk | 359 LH |
| Istanbul | 4/wk | 4/wk | 359 LH |
| Johannesburg | 7/wk | 7/wk | 359 LH |
| London | 28/wk | 28/wk | 388 77W |
| Los Angeles (non-stop) |
10/wk (was 14/wk) |
10/wk | 359 LH |
| Los Angeles (via NRT) |
7/wk | 7/wk | 77W |
| Manchester | 5/wk (was 4/wk) |
5/wk | 359 LH |
| Melbourne | 28/wk | 28/wk | 359 MH 359 LH 388 77W |
| Milan | 7/wk | 7/wk | 359 LH |
| Munich | 7/wk | 7/wk | 359 LH |
| New York JFK (non-stop) |
7/wk | 7/wk | 359 ULR |
| New York JFK (via FRA) |
7/wk | 7/wk | 388 77W |
| Newark | 7/wk | 7/wk | 359 ULR |
| Paris | 10/wk | 14/wk |
77W |
| Perth | 21/wk | 21/wk | 787 |
| Rome | 3/wk | 4/wk* |
359 LH |
| San Francisco | 14/wk | 14/wk | 359 LH 359 ULR |
| Seattle | 3/wk | 3/wk | 359 LH |
| Sydney | 28/wk | 28/wk | 359 MH 359 LH 388 77W |
| Vancouver | 3/wk | 3/wk | 359 LH |
| Zurich | 7/wk | 7/wk | 77W |
| Total | 309/wk |
320/wk |
|
* Rome operates five times weekly during June and August 2023
The latest updated schedules including days of operation are available at the Singapore Airlines website.
Auckland flights drop to daily for summer 2023, with the brief return of First Class on the route set to end as the Airbus A350 Long Haul takes over, while Houston returns to a skeleton three times weekly connection and Los Angeles drops to 10 times weekly.
Nonetheless, there are increases in store for Rome, Paris and Manchester, while Barcelona gets non-stop service again during the peak European holiday season in July and August 2023, in addition to flights via Milan.
The reduction in services to both Cairns and Darwin for the current winter season has also been reversed, with each route set to be served by the Boeing 737-8 MAX aircraft five times per week by July 2023.
There will also be more First Class seats to and from London next summer, with the daily SQ318/321 flight pairing upgrading from the A350 Long Haul to the 777-300ER, meaning all four flights on the route each day will offer First Class or Suites once again.
Sydney, Melbourne and London will retain the highest frequencies on the long-haul network, with each city served four times per day, including some A380 services in all three cases.
There will likely be some further changes to the summer schedules, including some potential peak period frequency hikes announced closer to the time, especially with China’s reopening on the horizon.
“Fifth freedom” routes
Singapore Airlines will continue to operate four “fifth freedom” routes during the summer season, on which it has traffic rights to sell tickets to passengers travelling solely between these cities.
- Frankfurt to New York JFK (Airbus A380 till 14th May 2023, Boeing 777-300ER thereafter)
- Manchester to Houston (Airbus A350 Long Haul)
- Milan to Barcelona (Airbus A350 Long Haul)
- Tokyo to Los Angeles (Boeing 777-300ER)
Note that it is not possible to buy or redeem tickets to travel solely on the following Singapore Airlines routes:
- Johannesburg to Cape Town
- Cape Town to Johannesburg
- Davao to Cebu
On these flights, you must be travelling to or from Singapore.
SIA still has not programmed a return of its Singapore – Hong Kong – San Francisco flights since these were suspended in January 2022, when Hong Kong banned transit passengers.
Hong Kong’s reopening to tourists (with testing) and a removal of all transit restrictions will hopefully see a return for this popular service sometime next year.
Which routes are left?
With 76 destinations across the Singapore Airlines and former SilkAir network now reinstated, it’s interesting to consider which cities or airports are still to be added to the list (or not, as the case may be).
Here’s the latest rundown.
Singapore Airlines / SilkAir Routes
Pending Reinstatement
| City / Airport | |
| Pending reinstatement (SIA route)
|
|
| Pending reinstatement (former SilkAir route)
|
|
| Transferred to Scoot (and still pending reinstatement)
|
|
| Discontinued since COVID-19 (no planned reinstatement) |
|
Summary
Singapore Airlines schedules get a couple of ‘big updates’ per year, and this is one of them, with flight frequencies and aircraft types confirmed for the northern summer season from late March 2023 to late October 2023.
For most routes it’s ‘status quo’, but there’s a reduction for the Auckland route, while there are nice increases for places like Tokyo, Rome, Bangkok and Taipei.
If you are booking flights beyond 28th October 2023, do be aware that next winter’s schedule is still somewhat provisional, especially as far as aircraft types are concerned.
(Cover Photo: Fedor Selivanov / Shutterstock)
What about destinations like Kunming transferred from SilkAir to Scoot but as yet not reinstated? I doubt such a route will be cancelled indefinitely? Also Jakarta is a bit of a curiosity, I am sure the demand is there but why are flights still capped at 5 a day for so long, when SQ used to do almost 9 a day pre pandemic
The table of routes pending reinstatement only shows Singapore Airlines / SilkAir routes and those transferred from SQ/MI to TR.
TR has loads of routes that haven’t been reinstated yet, but they weren’t SQ/MI routes pre-pandemic.
Jakarta is still slot constrained so SIA has to wait to have its slots approved before adding new services. All airlines are suffering from this unfortunately, including Scoot and Jetstar, leading to some very high fares! They are trying, hopefully more flights will be possible soon.
Interesting dynamics for CGK-SIN as most airlines have reinstated almost full frequency now, except the previous dominant carriers ie: SQ (9 daily down to 5 daily), GA (8 daily down to 3 daily) and JT (5 daily to 0). There is even new entrant, Citilink QG which got one pair of new slots, and Batik Air ID which increases from 4 daily to 5 daily (although these airlines that got new slots are in the same group as the dominant incumbents GA and JT respectively).
6th daily SQ CGK service starts next week. SQ962/963 (A350 LH). Table updated.
There’s a huge amount of politics in play on this route too, a bit like how all these ID carriers get to use Changi’s “premium” T3. It’s not a coincidence… SG’s hands are tied if SQ/TR/3K are to get a look-in on CGK!
When will you fly more SQ flights to Penang ,instead of Scoot…annoying when you book Business Class on SQ with stopover in Singapore with no other connection but Scoot to fly out to destination…service is crap in Scoot…why charge such fees when service is pathetic?
Penang is increasing from 2 daily to 4 daily on 1st June 2023, then to 5 daily from 1st October 2023, as shown in the table.
Problem is not the number of flights..its the aircraft..Scoot …Wondering why not many Singapoea Airlines flight yo Penang..I feel damned flying budget….as connecting with no other options but lauover yhe next day to cstch SQ to Penang..
The increased number of flights are SIA services, not Scoot. So they will address the issue, with a wider range of departure timings throughout the day by the time 5 SQ flights are running.
Why is Syd Lax not on your schedule
SYD-LAX? Singapore Airlines does not operate direct flights on that route.
Anyone else curious about BDO? I’ve had three flights cancelled by SQ with no explanation other than the ubiquitous ‘operational reasons’, but it does appear that immigration facilities there have yet to be reopened post-covid as there are currently no international flights at all into BDO. This is a pity, as the Bandung area used to enjoy valuable tourism by visitors flying in from SIN and KUL Whilst Malindo are now (optimistically?) selling tickets between KUL and SIN for direct flights from April 1st, SQ and Air Asia have, as far as I know, yet to indicate when they might restart. I hope that I am wrong, but I do fear that the continued absence of immigration facilities at BDO may have something to do with eventually promoting the yet-to-get-going new West Javan airport of KJT. Anyone any knowledge/thoughts?
Any chance of increasing the frequency between PEK and SIN soon? Now 1 flight per week is still inconvenient.
Yes with China cancelling its flight restrictions from 8 Jan all China routes are now likely to see increases.