Singapore Airlines reducing A380 Sydney flights

Back in May 2023, Singapore Airlines restored twice-daily Airbus A380 service on its Sydney route for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, once again offering 12 Suites per day and the latest long-haul Business Class product on one of the carrier’s key routes.

That’s remained the case ever since, and indeed when people ask our advice about booking Suites without the risk of an aircraft type downgrade, we always recommend the Sydney and London flights, since the airline prioritises its newest products and highest capacity on the competitive ‘kangaroo route’.

Well, SIA is trimming its A380 schedules in August, September and October this year, and unusually it is in fact the Sydney route that will bear the brunt.

Sydney A380 reductions

For two separate periods this coming northern summer schedule season, Singapore Airlines will replace one of its two daily Airbus A380 services to and from Sydney, SQ221/232, with a Boeing 777-300ER instead:

• Singapore to Sydney
  SQ221 [20:20 – 05:55*(+1)]
  4th August 2024 – 13th September 2024 (six weeks)
  14th October 2024 – 26th October 2024 (two weeks)
• Sydney to Singapore
  SQ232 [11:00* – 17:30]
  5th August 2024 – 14th September 2024 (six weeks)
  15th October 2024 – 27th October 2024 (two weeks)

* 1 hour later from 6 October 2024, due to Daylight Savings Time

The carrier’s daily SQ231/222 service will continue to be operated by the Airbus A380 throughout the northern summer 2024 season, so thankfully Sydney isn’t losing the superjumbo altogether.

The schedule

Here’s how SIA’s Singapore – Sydney schedule looks during the upcoming season, following these changes.

Singapore Sydney
31st March 2024 – 26th October 2024

All services operate daily

			Acft Aircraft	Dates
	SQ231		388 A380	All
SIN 00:45		SYD 10:25
	SQ241		359 LH A350 LH	31 Mar – 31 Jul
SIN 07:15		SYD 16:55	77W 777-300ER	1 Aug – 26 Oct
	SQ211		77W 777-300ER	All
SIN 09:35		SYD 19:15
	SQ221		388 A380	31 Mar – 3 Aug 14 Sep – 13 Oct
SIN 20:20		SYD 05:55*	77W 777-300ER	4 Aug – 13 Sep 14 Oct – 26 Oct

* Next day
Note: SYD arrival timings are 1 hour later from 6 October 2024, due to Daylight Savings Time

Sydney Singapore
31st March 2024 – 26th October 2024

All services operate daily

			Acft Aircraft	Dates
	SQ212		77W 777-300ER	All
SYD 07:55		SIN 14:15
	SQ232		388 A380	31 Mar – 4 Aug 15 Sep – 14 Oct
SYD 11:00		SIN 17:30	77W 777-300ER	5 Aug – 14 Sep 15 Oct – 27 Oct
	SQ222		388 A380	All
SYD 15:00		SIN 21:20
	SQ242		359 LH A350 LH	31 Mar – 31 Jul
SYD 18:05		SIN 00:20*	77W 777-300ER	1 Aug – 26 Oct

* Next day
Note: SYD departure timings are 1 hour later from 6 October 2024, due to Daylight Savings Time

We’ve updated our dedicated Business Class seats by route and First Class seats by route pages to reflect this latest change.

There you can find the aircraft types and seat types deployed on all SIA services between now and the end of October 2024.

Suites passengers are the worst hit

While this change isn’t a huge deal for those booked in Business Class, Premium Economy or Economy Class, if you snagged a Suites award or forked out cash for this exclusive cabin, the alternative seat you’ll now have isn’t quite on-par.

For Suites passengers already booked on the flights listed above, it will mean the experience changing from this…

to this…

Obviously that’s quite a downgrade and may be enough make you consider whether your miles or cash outlay for this cabin is still worthwhile.

If you are affected and downgraded to the Boeing 777-300ER, you may be able to request a switch to the SQ231/222 service, which still has the A380 Suites cabin operating each day during these periods.

However, we do still enjoy the 2013 First Class product installed on the Boeing 777-300ERs, so don’t totally discount it. You can read our review of the product here.

In Business Class the impact is less of an issue, with the newer 2017 seats on the A380 being replaced by the 2013 seats on the 777-300ER, since they are quite similar in most respects.

What’s the A380 doing instead?

You’re probably wondering what the A380 originally planned to operate these Sydney flights will be doing instead during these six-week and two-week periods, while the SQ221/232 service downgauges to the Boeing 777-300ER.

While we’d love to share details of additional London flights, or perhaps a superjumbo stint to its former destinations like Melbourne, Auckland or Tokyo, unfortunately the answer appears to be… nothing!

The A380 fleet will continue to operate to six cities on the network during these periods, with a total of seven departures per day from Changi (one each to Delhi, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Mumbai and Sydney, and two to London).

That suggests this schedule change is probably a requirement for maintenance downtime, unless SIA has some as-yet-unannounced deployment up its sleeve.

Singapore Airlines now has 12 Airbus A380s in its operating fleet.

The A380 will similarly be removed from the following regular routes this coming summer season, and replaced temporarily with Boeing 777-300ER operation in both cases:

• Mumbai (SQ424/423): 24th June 2024 – 14th July 2024
• Delhi (SQ406/403): 15th July 2024 – 4th August 2024

Our analysis shows that during the Sydney downgauge period, only eight continuously-flying A380s are needed to operate SIA’s flying schedule, nine including an operational spare, which means that potentially up to three of the 12 aircraft (25%) will be out of action.

Here’s a summary of where SIA is operating its Airbus A380s, between now and late October 2024.

Singapore to/from	NW23/24 (now – Mar ’24)	NS24 (Apr ’24 – Oct ’24)
Auckland
Delhi		*
Frankfurt
Hong Kong
London Heathrow
Mumbai		*
Shanghai	*
Sydney
Tokyo Narita

* Partial operation during the season

For full details including the schedules, check out our updated dedicated guide on where SIA is flying its Airbus A380s between now and late October 2024.

Sydney goes five daily from late October

Singapore Airlines will finally restore pre-COVID frequencies and seat capacity on its Sydney route from the start of the northern winter 2024/25 season on 27th October 2024.

That will come in the form of a fifth daily service, operated by the Airbus A350 Long Haul.

The good news is twice-daily Airbus A380 operation is also back on the cards from the same date, based on provisional schedules already loaded. Here’s how it looks.

Singapore Sydney
27th October 2024 – 29th March 2025

All services operate daily

			Acft Aircraft	Dates
	SQ231		388 A380	All
SIN 00:45		SYD 11:50
	SQ241		77W 777-300ER	All
SIN 07:05		SYD 17:55
	SQ211		77W 777-300ER	All
SIN 10:30		SYD 21:20
	SQ201		359 LH A350 LH	All
SIN 19:10		SYD 05:55*
	SQ221		388 A380	All
SIN 20:40		SYD 07:40*

* Next day

Sydney Singapore
27th October 2024 – 29th March 2025

All services operate daily

			Acft Aircraft	Dates
	SQ202		77W 777-300ER	All
SYD 06:45		SIN 11:50
	SQ212		359 LH A350 LH	All
SYD 09:05		SIN 14:15
	SQ232		388 A380	All
SYD 12:15		SIN 17:35
	SQ222		388 A380	All
SYD 16:10		SIN 21:20
	SQ242		77W 777-300ER	All
SYD 19:10		SIN 00:20*

* Next day

This will give Sydney 12,061 seats per week of capacity from Singapore, slightly more than pre-COVID levels, and will make it the sixth-busiest city on the network by this metric, after Bangkok, Hong Kong, Bali, Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo.

Singapore Airlines is reducing its Airbus A380 schedule this summer, and it’s the typically-more-reliable Sydney route that will be affected, with one of two daily superjumbo flights (SQ221/232) downgauging to the Boeing 777-300ER for a total of eight weeks in August, September and October.

That’s surprising, since the airline tends to prioritise A380 operation on its two daily Sydney and London flights, so we tend to recommend them as the least likely options to suffer an aircraft swap, while the likes of Delhi, Mumbai and Hong Kong tend to be the focus of occasional downgrades.

If your flight is affected and you’re booked in Suites, you’re definitely the hardest hit, and should try to get an alternative arranged via SIA. That may even include switching to SQ231/222, which thankfully does retain A380 operation (and therefore Suites) to and from Sydney on a daily basis throughout the season.

Come late October, double daily A380 service to Sydney is restored, as the route returns to pre-COVID five times daily operation in total, with over 12,000 seats per week in each direction.

(Cover Photo: Singapore Airlines)