Singapore Airlines has announced a brand new long-haul route on its network, with a five times weekly service between Changi Airport and London Gatwick Airport launching in June 2024, the first time the carrier has operated a dual-airport strategy on its London flights.
This service will supplement SIA’s four times daily non-stop flights to and from the larger London Heathrow Airport, and while the airline was indeed originally seeking to add a fifth daily flight there, it is near-impossible to obtain slots, with Heathrow already operating at full capacity.
Gatwick is the overspill option, and upcoming flights will use Airbus A350 Long Haul aircraft, offering a new KrisFlyer redemption possibility to and from London in Business Class, Premium Economy and Economy Class.
Malaysia-Singapore Airlines operated flights at London Gatwick during the 1960s, but Singapore Airlines has never flown regular services there under its own branding.
The schedule
This new service will commence on 21st June 2024, departing Singapore just before midnight, touching down in London just before 6.30am the next day. That’s a generous 13 hour 30 minute scheduled flight time, ample for getting some overnight rest on the way to Europe.
Singapore London Gatwick
21 Jun 2024 – 26 Oct 2024
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
 |
SQ312 A350 LH |
||||||||
| SIN 23:55 |
LGW 06:25* |
||||||||
| Duration: 13:30 | |||||||||
* Next day
It’s also perfect timing for a full working day in London, with the Sunday flight landing on Monday morning sure to be a popular option for those starting a working week in the UK capital.
Only Tuesdays and Wednesdays will not see a flight on this route.
On the London – Singapore sector, departure is at 10.15am each morning, landing in Singapore at 6.20am the following morning.
London Gatwick Singapore
22 Jun 2024 – 26 Oct 2024
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
|
SQ309 A350 LH |
||||||||
| LGW 10:15 |
SIN 06:20* |
||||||||
| Duration: 13:05 | |||||||||
* Next day
Thanks to prevailing winds, it’s a slightly shorter and 13 hours 5 minutes on the eastbound flight, with arrival also well timed for the start of a full working day in the Lion City, or to connect with a host of departing flights out of Changi to other Asia-Pacific hubs and several cities in Australia and New Zealand.
The year-round route will also operate five times per week in the IATA northern winter timetable season, with slightly different timings in the London to Singapore direction, but on the same days of operation, as shown below.
Singapore London Gatwick
27 Oct 2024 – 28 Mar 2025
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
|
SQ312 A350 LH |
||||||||
| SIN 23:55 |
LGW 06:25* |
||||||||
| Duration: 14:30 | |||||||||
* Next day
London Gatwick Singapore
27 Oct 2024 – 28 Mar 2025
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
|
SQ309 A350 LH |
||||||||
| LGW 09:20 |
SIN 06:15* |
||||||||
| Duration: 12:55 | |||||||||
* Next day
Tickets for these new London Gatwick flights will be made available for sale progressively through the airline’s usual distribution channels from 19th December 2023.
Further details about this new route launch are available via the Singapore Airlines press release.
Why Gatwick?
Unlike SIA’s existing London services, which serve the larger Heathrow Airport, these new flights will operate to and from Gatwick Airport, 30 miles south of the city.
While there’s an obvious Heathrow preference for the airline and passengers alike, obtaining new takeoff and landing slots there is nearly impossible. Even if you can find an airline with ideal slot timings who’s willing to sell, it’s vastly expensive, with Heathrow already operating at full capacity.
That didn’t stop SIA from trying.
Earlier this year the airline applied for a fifth daily Heathrow flight, effective from the summer 2024 season, but was one of 57 airlines to (somewhat optimistically) do so. Only a single carrier, LATAM, was successful in obtaining new slots.
Since there is little opportunity for Singapore Airlines to grow further at slot-constrained Heathrow from its current schedule of 28 departures per week, Gatwick looks to be the carrier’s overflow option for London expansion.
It’s not a bad option either.
The airport is well connected to central London, with regular trains running up to 15 times per hour from an integrated rail station at the South Terminal to London Victoria and London Blackfriars stations.
Most services take less than 35 minutes.
While Gatwick caters predominantly to leisure traffic, full-service carriers like Emirates and Qatar Airways have been using it for many years as a secondary London option (Emirates even uses distant Stansted Airport too).
SIA rival Cathay Pacific launched four times weekly flights between Hong Kong and London Gatwick in September 2016, which increased to daily from June 2017, but this service was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic and has not yet made a return to the Oneworld carrier’s route map.
Cathay seemed to be having success with its Gatwick route, recording 87% loads in December 2019, so perhaps Singapore Airlines also sees an opportunity here to jump in to the market ahead of its regional rival, which is still growing network capacity.
KrisFlyer awards
These are the KrisFlyer miles needed for the Singapore – London Gatwick route.
| KrisFlyer Redemption (one-way) Singapore ⇄ London |
||
| Saver | Advantage | |
| Economy | 42,000 | 70,000 |
| Premium Economy | 71,000 | n/a |
| Business | 103,500 | 123,000 |
Award seats should be loaded alongside commercial space from 19th December 2023, so keep an eye out tomorrow if you’re interested, as there is likely to be a healthy supply of Saver awards on offer.
That was the case with SIA’s recent launch for non-stop Brussels flights, with that four times weekly route seeing over 900 Business Class Saver award seats loaded up for immediate redemption using KrisFlyer miles less than 24 hours after being announced.
Taxes and fees are lower from Gatwick
Apart from a fresh dump of award space, which we’re hoping to see from tomorrow onwards for these new Gatwick flights, another plus for those departing London’s second airport is lower taxes and fees compared to Heathrow.
While there’s still the very high Air Passenger Duty (APD) payable on award tickets departing from the United Kingdom to contend with out of Gatwick, taxes and fees are GBP 35.24 (around S$60) less than from Heathrow.
That’s not because APD is less (it’s the same), but because Gatwick’s Passenger Service Charge is only GBP 20.57, while Heathrow’s is a steep GBP 55.81.
For similar reasons, it’s also around GBP 35 (~S$59) cheaper to redeem using KrisFlyer miles from Manchester to Singapore. Here’s how it looks for a Business Class award.
SIA KrisFlyer Award Taxes & Fees
Business Class, ex-UK
| Airport | APD | PSC | Total |
| London Heathrow | GBP 202 | GBP 55.81 | GBP 257.81 (~S$431) |
| Manchester | GBP 202 | GBP 20.78 | GBP 222.78 (~S$373) |
| London Gatwick (from Jun ’24) |
GBP 202 | GBP 20.57 | GBP 222.57 (~S$373) |
That will make Gatwick the cheapest UK airport to redeem KrisFlyer miles from, though let’s face it – APD still stings!
London is SIA’s ‘cash cow’ route
Singapore to London Heathrow is SIA’s ‘cash cow’, earning the highest revenue of any route pre-COVID and without a doubt today as well.
The carrier was netting over S$2.7 million per day in revenue on Heathrow flights alone in 2019, 33% more than it made on Singapore – Sydney (S$2.0 million per day) and 68% more than third-place Jakarta (S$1.6 million per day).
Little connectivity at LGW
Star Alliance carriers are moderately represented at Gatwick, with Aegean Airlines, Air China, Air India, Croatia Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss, TAP Air Portugal and Turkish Airlines operating at the airport.
However, these carriers operate relatively limited schedules, primarily linking their own hubs and in some cases only on a seasonal basis, so there won’t be much interline connectivity on offer for Singapore Airlines passengers at the Gatwick end of the route.
That’s quite unlike the carrier’s upcoming addition of Brussels flights, for example, where Star Alliance partner Brussels Airlines offers a wide range of connectivity for SIA passengers throughout Europe and beyond.
That makes this Gatwick route almost wholly for London-bound and London-origin passengers, though the airline may not see that as a major issue with a 253-seat aircraft five times per week, given the popularity of the Singapore – UK market.
There’s also the onward connectivity offered through its Changi hub to destinations like Australia and New Zealand, for Brits heading to further-flung places.
Scoot and Norwegian tried and failed
Singapore – London Gatwick flights aren’t a new concept.
SIA’s low-cost subsidiary Scoot launched flights from Singapore to London Gatwick via Bangkok, with an initial series of services in December 2021, and a fuller regular schedule following from March 2022.
These included “fifth freedom” traffic rights on the Bangkok – London – Bangkok sectors, but the route was not successful and was axed in August 2022, after only 45 flights had operated.
Prior to that, Norwegian flew non-stop between Singapore and London Gatwick for just over a year, from September 2017 to January 2019, but this route was also dropped due to poor performance.
This new Singapore Airlines service should be a different matter, of course.
With a full-service offering, Gatwick is also an easy sell if your final destination is in the South East of the UK, plus there’s oodles of seamless connectivity through Changi to and from onward destinations.
That means this one hopefully won’t face quite the same challenges that failed low-cost long-haul services of the past have suffered.
SIA’s Europe network
London Gatwick will represent Singapore Airlines’ 14th destination in Europe.
12 cities currently see regular passenger service, with Brussels to follow as the 13th from April 2024. Here’s how the list will look with Gatwick in the mix next summer.
Singapore Airlines Europe destinations
Summer 2024
| Destination | Frequency |
| Amsterdam | 7/wk |
| Barcelona | 5/wk |
| Brussels | 4/wk (from April) |
| Copenhagen | 7/wk |
| Frankfurt | 14/wk |
| Istanbul | 4/wk |
| London Gatwick | 5/wk (from June) |
| London Heathrow | 28/wk |
| Manchester | 5/wk |
| Milan | 7/wk |
| Munich | 7/wk |
| Paris | 14/wk |
| Rome | 4/wk |
| Zurich | 7/wk |
The airline permanently axed its routes to Dusseldorf and Stockholm during the COVID-19 pandemic, while closer to home it also called time on Canberra and Wellington services.
Which lounge?
These new flights will operate from Terminal 3 at Singapore Changi Airport, so it’s the new SilverKris lounge complex for those eligible through status or travel class prior to departure on the new London Gatwick flight.
At London Gatwick, flights will use the North Terminal, which has a variety of lounges. We would expect SIA to use the higher-end Clubrooms lounge, also used by Qatar Airways, or perhaps the adjacent No 1 Lounge, also used by Delta Air Lines, but no specific facility has been confirmed at this stage.
However, there are several third-party and airline-operated lounges at Gatwick, so SIA could also replicate a mixed lounge entitlement, like it does for its Manchester passengers.
That might see Business Class and PPS Club members invited to a higher-end lounge but KrisFlyer Elite Gold members in Economy and Premium Economy directed to a more generic facility.
For now, Singapore Airlines has advised Mainly Miles that it is “reviewing the available options for lounge access at Gatwick Airport”, with the details to be shared at a later date.
Summary
Singapore Airlines is launching non-stop Airbus A350 flights five times per week to and from London’s second airport Gatwick from June 2024, which will provide a fifth non-stop option to the UK capital on selected days.
Heathrow was the carrier’s first choice, but with additional slots there nearly impossible to come by, Gatwick is a good overspill option for Singapore Airlines in London.
The airport remains well connected to central London and the South East of the UK, and we’re expecting to see some healthy KrisFlyer award space in the Saver category loaded up as early as tomorrow, including for the peak summer holiday period.
On that front, Gatwick – Singapore redemptions actually come in a little cheaper than those from Heathrow, thanks to lower airport fees, so this might be your new go-to redemption in the Lion City direction from the UK capital.
(Cover Photo: Shutterstock)
I wonder if SQ got the slots, where their fifth freedom flight be to?
SQ was seeking an addition daily slot pair at London Heathrow for a 5th daily SIN-LHR-SIN service. There was no “fifth freedom” route involved.
Oh yeah. Sorry my bad, I was mistaken.
Wow great news Gatwick is much easier for me travelling to and from south London! Shame it will not be daily is north term confirmed? Train station goes into south
Yes Singapore Airlines has confirmed to us that it will be using the North Terminal at Gatwick. It’s just a 5-minute monorail ride to the South Terminal and the integrated train station there.
New station for SQ, new station managers etc, quite a big job to set up a new station for an airline… exciting though
that also makes it the only a350 from sgp to lon right? that great news for a350 lovers like myself then!
Yes this will be SIA’s only A350 service to London, except during the COVID-19 pandemic when A350 LH aircraft were used on some LHR services. Now LHR is back to the regular 2x 77W and 2x 388 daily.
Check out the Business Class fares 7-8k SGD a little steep…