Hong Kong is Singapore Airlines’ latest A380 route cut

Last week we reported on a reduction in Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A380 services to and from Sydney during August, September and October this year, and now there’s news of yet another popular route being downgraded for an even longer stretch over the summer.

This time it’s Hong Kong that’s affected, with the sole daily A380 service to and from the city scaled back to Boeing 777-300ER operation for a total of 106 days, across three separate periods between April and October 2024.

That’s the equivalent of more than 50% of these SQ892/893 flights affected, which is very bad news for those who have secured A380 Suites bookings in particular, and now find their service relegated to an inferior product.

Hong Kong A380 reductions

For three separate periods this coming northern summer schedule season, Singapore Airlines will replace its daily Airbus A380 service to and from Hong Kong, SQ892/893, with a Boeing 777-300ER instead:

• Singapore to Hong Kong
  SQ892 [09:40 – 13:55]
  1st April 2024 – 9th June 2024 (10 weeks)
  17th June 2024 – 23rd June 2024 (one week)
  16th September 2024 – 14th October 2024 (four weeks)
• Hong Kong to Singapore
  SQ893 [15:40 – 19:35]
  1st April 2024 – 9th June 2024 (10 weeks)
  17th June 2024 – 23rd June 2024 (one week)
  16th September 2024 – 14th October 2024 (four weeks)

There will therefore be no A380 – and no Suites cabin – on the Hong Kong route during these affected periods.

The schedule

Of course this daily A380 / 777 service is not the only Singapore Airlines link between Changi and Hong Kong, with the carrier already ramping up to six daily flights from April 2024, four months earlier than originally planned.

Here’s how SIA’s overall Singapore – Hong Kong schedule looks during the upcoming season, with SQ892/893 Airbus A380 (and downgraded Boeing 777) operation highlighted.

Singapore Hong Kong
1st April 2024 – 26th October 2024

All services operate daily

			Acft Aircraft	Dates
	SQ874		359 LH A350 LH	All
SIN 07:25		HKG 11:20
	SQ882		359 MH A350 MH	All
SIN 08:40		HKG 12:40
	SQ892		388 A380	10 Jun -16 Jun 24 Jun – 15 Sep 15 Oct – 26 Oct
SIN 09:40		HKG 13:55	77W 777-300ER	1 Apr – 9 Jun 17 Jun – 23 Jun 16 Sep – 14 Oct
	SQ894		359 LH A350 LH	All
SIN 13:05		HKG 17:05
	SQ896		359 MH A350 MH	All
SIN 15:30		HKG 19:40
	SQ898		359 MH A350 MH	All
SIN 19:00		HKG 22:45

Hong Kong Singapore
1st April 2024 – 26th October 2024

All services operate daily

			Acft Aircraft	Dates
	SQ897		359 MH A350 MH	All
HKG 08:00		SIN 11:45
	SQ899		359 MH A350 MH	All
HKG 09:05		SIN 13:00
	SQ875		359 LH A350 LH	All
HKG 12:25		SIN 16:20
	SQ883		359 MH A350 MH	All
HKG 14:25		SIN 18:20
	SQ893		388 A380	10 Jun -16 Jun 24 Jun – 15 Sep 15 Oct – 26 Oct
HKG 15:40		SIN 19:35	77W 777-300ER	1 Apr – 9 Jun 17 Jun – 23 Jun 16 Sep – 14 Oct
	SQ895		359 LH A350 LH	All
HKG 18:50		SIN 22:40

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.

Provisionally, Singapore Airlines is loading daily Airbus A380 operation on its SQ892/893 Hong Kong flights once again for the northern winter season from November 2024 onwards, with no interruptions planned, though this advance schedule remains subject to change.

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 wish to cancel or change your travel plans, if it’s the Suites hard product experience you were aiming for.

Nonetheless, we do still enjoy the 2013 First Class product installed on the Boeing 777-300ERs, so don’t totally discount it. The “soft product” in terms of food and beverage service is more or less identical to Suites, and 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.

Other A380 route reductions in 2024

As we alluded to earlier in the article, it’s not just Hong Kong that’s suffering a reduction in A380 services this coming northern summer season.

While the type should be operating regular services to six destinations, there are some temporary reductions now in place practically season-wide.

The A380 will be removed from the following regular routes this coming summer 2024 season, and replaced temporarily with Boeing 777-300ER operation in all cases:

• Hong Kong (SQ892/893)
  1st April – 9th June
  17th June – 23rd June
  16th September – 14th October
• Mumbai (SQ424/423)
  24th June – 14th July
• Delhi (SQ406/403)
  15th July – 4th August
• Sydney (SQ221/232)
  4th August – 13th September
  14th October – 26th October

As you can see there are practically no dates where all proposed A380 routes will see a full service, with rolling reductions now in place across four of the jet’s six routes over the whole season.

Only London and Frankfurt will see their A380 schedules completely uninterrupted this summer.

If you recall, this also comes after the news that Singapore Airlines downgraded a daily Shanghai link as its proposed seventh regular A380 flight this summer. That one will now be served with regional Airbus A350 or Boeing 787-10 jets instead.

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.

What’s the reason?

Singapore Airlines now has 12 Airbus A380s in its operating fleet, the carrier’s final long-term post-COVID plan for its superjumbo division.

Peak summer Mumbai and Delhi A380 withdrawals were common in the past, to support a third daily A380 service to and from London Heathrow, as in 2023, but that doesn’t seem to be part of the plan this year.

Our analysis shows that only around eight or nine continuously-flying A380s are needed to operate SIA’s flying schedule this summer – nine or 10 including an operational spare, which means that potentially up to three of the 12 aircraft (25%) will be out of action during the upcoming season.

With no other A380 route announcements to date, and the first route cull just a month away, that suggests these schedule changes are probably a requirement for A380 maintenance downtime.

Indeed the carrier’s A380 schedule for 12 aircraft this summer is even lighter than it was last year, when it had 11 aircraft at its disposal.

Back then, the fleet was clocking up 924 hours of flight time a week across 110 flights, but this year with one more aircraft it’s only 877 hours of flight time per week across 98 flights, based on late October schedules in both cases.

We have reached out to Singapore Airlines to clarify the background for these A380 service reductions, and will update the article with their response.

Singapore Airlines is continuing to cut its Airbus A380 schedules this summer, with news of a downgrade to Boeing 777-300ERs on daily Hong Kong services for over 15 weeks in total between April 2024 and October 2024.

This comes after news that the typically-more-reliable Sydney route will see one of its two daily superjumbo flights downgauging to the Boeing 777-300ER for a total of eight weeks in August, September and October, as we reported last week.

If your flight is affected and you’re booked in Suites, you’re definitely the hardest hit.

While there’s nothing wrong with the Boeing 777-300ER First Class product, it’s not quite on-par with the A380 Suites experience, and you may wish to rearrange your travel if you find yourself in this situation.

With no further Airbus A380 routes or frequencies loaded in the summer schedules at the time of writing, these service reductions seem to stem from maintenance requirements, which by our calculation could potentially see three of the carrier’s dozen A380s out of action at the same time this summer.

Those Boeing 777-9s can’t come soon enough.

(Cover Photo: Plane’s Portrait Aviation Media / Malcolm Lu)