Update: The final Singapore Airlines flight to and from Vancouver will operate on 30th September 2023, landing back into Singapore on 1st October 2023.
Singapore Airlines has announced that it will be ceasing flights to and from Canada later this year, with the carrier’s non-stop services linking Changi Airport to Vancouver being discontinued prior to the start of the northern winter season in October 2023.
SIA reinstated Vancouver flights for the first time in 12 years back in December 2021, to much fanfare, initially with a seasonal service which later became a year-round link operating three times per week using three-class Airbus A350 Long Haul aircraft.
This withdrawal of service is an adjustment of capacity in what the carrier describes as “[a] response to demand”, in its latest business update.
Following the cancellation, there will once again be no direct services between Singapore and Canada.
Canada loses SIA service again
This termination represents the second time SIA has pulled out of the Canadian market, first ceasing service on the Singapore – Seoul – Vancouver route back in April 2009 as a result of the global financial crisis, after serving the country continuously for 20 years.
Over the years, the carrier’s presence in Canada has also included a Toronto – Singapore routing via Amsterdam and Vienna.
Vancouver flights were reinstated in 2021 on a Singapore – Vancouver – Seattle – Vancouver – Singapore routing, while travel restrictions remained in place and flights needed Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) status to have any reasonable chance of success due to prevailing border measures.
Canada was one of the first countries to earn VTL status, allowing quarantine-free travel to and from Singapore during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vancouver then got its own non-stop service, as did Seattle, from June 2022, once the VTL scheme had (happily) been scrapped.
Despite having the Asia – Canada market largely to itself over the last year, the return of airlines like Cathay Pacific means Vancouver has stiff competition once again.
The Hong Kong-based carrier is currently operating seven weekly HKG-YVR flights, increasing to 14 weekly flights to the city from November 2023 – a far cry from SIA’s three weekly rotations.
The schedule
Here’s how SIA’s Vancouver service looks for the summer 2023 season, with continued operation prior to its removal from the network later this year.
Singapore Vancouver
Schedule
(till 30 Sep 2023)
 |
SQ48 A350 Long Haul |
Days | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
| SIN 07:25 |
YVR 07:10 |
||||||||
Vancouver Singapore
Schedule
(till 30 Sep 2023)
|
SQ47 A350 Long Haul |
Days | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
| YVR 08:40 |
SIN 15:45* |
||||||||
* Next day
Despite announcing the route’s cessation, SIA is continuing to sell seats on its Vancouver flights from October 2023 onwards, but only at the most expensive Flexi fares in all cabin classes (typically a sign that a route is on the way out anyway).
Award space is also being offered, at Advantage rates.
Frankly, it’s odd and looks very poor for the carrier to be doing this, when they know they won’t be operating these services and indeed have announced so.
Hopefully this discrepancy will be resolved soon and availability will be removed.
Summary
SIA reinstated direct flights to Canada with its Vancouver service in December 2021, after the country was added to Singapore’s VTL list for quarantine-free travel for those flying on approved flights.
The service since became year-round and was even de-linked from nearby Seattle, which looked to be positive news for the route’s long-term success and the airline’s renewed presence in the country.
Unfortunately Singapore Airlines has now announced that it will discontinue non-stop flights to and from Vancouver at the end of the summer season, marking the carrier’s second withdrawal from the Canadian market.
Could we perhaps see services transferred to SCOOT instead, surely they have aircraft capable to make the trip, plus Vancouver seems to be more of a VFR market with important transfer links to important SCOOT destinations like Amritsar for example. I guess SQ is feeling the heat from the re-emergent East Asian carriers. Though transferring the route to SCOOT will maintain the SIA Groups foothold in what is still an important market.
Lol 😂
Maybe a Cessna is better
Er, I don’t think Scoot will be that capable of flying to North America from Singapore directly as it lacks most passenger comforts as an LCC. It’ll also be quite expensive in terms of fuel costs too.
believe flights are all now on waitlist status.
What a joke. They blame demand when they charged excruciatingly high prices for those flights, easily double if not triple what other routes would cost. One assumes this was due to the high demand in the ticket, which is contradictory to their stated reason for disbanding. Both of those things cannot or do not add up – either Singapore Airlines is price gouging or they are bare-faced lying to their customers.
Just because other routes have high(er) demand and make more money for SQ doesn’t mean they should cancel flights to Vancouver. SQ could consider a fifth freedom flight via Seattle or HK or Tokyo
Of course it does! SQ is a business not a charity. The A350 is an expensive asset and if they can make more money flying it on a different route then that’s exactly what they should do and exactly what the shareholders would expect.
This was inevitable once N Asia hubs opened up. CX via HKG, BR via TPE, KE via ICN etc ruled the roost on India/SE Asia to YVR market pre covid and now they are back. It was good while it lasted for SQ but a sensible decision to bow out.
Agreed.
1) not enough Canadians in Singapore (especially when compared with Hong Kong)
2) the flight times are terrible. I wouldn’t consider this flight as I’m not keen on getting up at 4ish twice.