Singapore Airlines has announced a reinstatement of twice-daily flights to and from Guangzhou starting later this month, but unlike many service restorations we’ve seen recently – this one isn’t simply a return to pre-COVID schedules.
The full service carrier actually last operated twice daily service on this route way back in 2018, but as we reported at the time SIA shifted its evening and overnight SQ852/853 service across to low-cost subsidiary Scoot at the end October 2018, over five years ago.
That gave the low-cost subsidiary a 71% share of capacity on the route, compared to a 50-50 split before, but SIA is taking back the reins to and from the southern China metropolis later this month, as it brings that second daily flight back in house.
The news comes as SIA also recently confirmed a reinstatement of passenger service to four temporarily suspended China routes from November and December 2023 – with Chengdu, Chongqing, Shenzhen and Xiamen all returning to the carrier’s route map.
Guangzhou returns to twice daily
From 26th November 2023, Singapore Airlines is restarting its SQ852/853 flight to and from Guangzhou, which will represent a big boost to capacity on the route compared to pre-COVID, since the carrier has already restored the daily SQ850/851 services it was previously operating.
The new SQ852/853 flights used Airbus A330s before they were suspended, so it’s not surprising to see them restart with regionally-configured Airbus A350 Medium Haul aircraft this time round, in common with the existing morning service.
However, from 30th January 2024 the newly-reinstated flights will downgauge to the Boeing 737-8 MAX aircraft. These offer significantly less capacity, especially in Business Class, which has only 10 seats compared to 40 on the A350 Medium Haul jets.
Here’s how the schedule on this route looks from later this month, with the reinstated services highlighted.
Singapore ⇄ Guangzhou
26th November 2023 – 29th January 2024
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
 |
SQ850 A350 MH |
||||||||
| SIN 08:05 |
CAN 12:10 |
||||||||
|
SQ852 A350 MH |
||||||||
| SIN 21:15 |
CAN 01:20* |
||||||||
|
SQ853^ A350 MH |
||||||||
| CAN 02:35 |
SIN 07:00 |
||||||||
|
SQ851 A350 MH |
||||||||
| CAN 13:30 |
SIN 17:50 |
||||||||
* Next day
^ From 27th November 2023
Singapore ⇄ Guangzhou
30th January 2024 – 30th March 2024
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
|
SQ850 A350 MH |
||||||||
| SIN 08:05 |
CAN 12:10 |
||||||||
|
SQ852^ 737-8 MAX |
||||||||
| SIN 21:15 |
CAN 01:20* |
||||||||
|
SQ853 737-8 MAX |
||||||||
| CAN 02:35 |
SIN 07:00 |
||||||||
|
SQ851 A350 MH |
||||||||
| CAN 13:30 |
SIN 17:50 |
||||||||
* Next day
^ Until 29th March 2024
The restored timing allows a late night departure from Singapore, arriving at 1.20am the following morning, while in the return direction an overnight service leaving at 2.35am gets you into Changi at 7am the same day.
Guangzhou will become the 27th destination on the SIA network to be served by the Boeing 737-8 MAX aircraft from 30th January 2024. You can view the full list of the carrier’s MAX routes here.
KrisFlyer award redemption rates
Here’s a breakdown of the KrisFlyer miles needed to redeem between Singapore and Guangzhou
| KrisFlyer Redemption (one-way) Singapore ⇄ Guangzhou |
||
| Saver | Advantage | |
| Economy | 16,500 | 30,000 |
| Business | 34,000 | 50,000 |
Award space on this new service is generously loaded, with up to four KrisFlyer Saver Business Class awards available each day on a range of dates.
Even when the MAX takes over on this flight from late January 2024, there are still four Saver Business awards available on most dates (that’s 40% of the whole cabin!), including across much of the Chinese New Year period, so now may be a good time to jump on these.
Don’t forget we have a fully updated list of the Business Class seat types you can expect on board all Singapore Airlines flights between now and the end of March 2024, an essential reference when booking routes like this one, where a choice exists between different aircraft types.
Other Singapore – Guangzhou flights
The Singapore – Guangzhou route is also served by China Southern Airlines and SIA’s low-cost subsidiary Scoot:
- China Southern
21 x weekly (A320, till 9 Dec)
28 x weekly (A320, from 10 Dec) - Scoot
14 x weekly (A321neo, till 30 Nov)
7 x weekly (787-8, from 1 Dec)
Additional 7 x weekly A321neo 6 Feb 24 – 19 Feb 24
Overall the Singapore Airlines group (SIA and Scoot combined) will offer 6,587 seats per week to and from Guangzhou in December 2023, compared to 6,199 in December 2019, a 6% capacity increase.
Summary
Singapore Airlines is restoring its second daily Guangzhou flight for the first time in over five years, having handed the evening service over to low-cost subsidiary Scoot in October 2018.
Airbus A350 Medium Haul aircraft will be deployed initially, followed by Boeing 737-8 MAX jets from late January 2024, and there’s good award space loaded in Business Class for those looking to redeem.
The news comes as SIA restarts four other China routes in the coming weeks, while the travel process to the country for Singapore citizens has happily now been fully restored to pre-pandemic norms.
(Cover Photo: Weiming Xie / Shutterstock)