It seems like hardly a week goes by without Singapore Airlines tinkering with the flight schedules for its flagship Airbus A380 aircraft, and today yet another negative change has been confirmed, with the airline removing the type from its Hong Kong route for the vast majority of the upcoming northern winter season.

SQ892/893 flights will now be operated by the four-class Boeing 777-300ER from late October 2024 through to late March 2025, with the exception of a two-week window in late January over the Chinese New Year holiday period, where the superjumbo will make a brief appearance on the route.

The change doesn’t come as a big surprise – we noted in mid-June that the airline was capping First Class seat sales at four on these flights, a telltale sign that a 777 downgauge was in the works.

The news comes as Shanghai will also lose its promised daily A380 flight over the same period, leaving SIA with only five cities offering consistent superjumbo service this winter.

A380s withdrawn from Hong Kong this winter

SIA’s regular daily Airbus A380 Hong Kong flight (SQ892/893) will now be operated by four-class Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, between 27th October 2024 and 29th March 2025.

The exception, as we also predicted due to the continued sale of up to six First Class seats, is over the Chinese New Year holiday period in late January 2025, when Airbus A380s will make a brief return to this service for a two-week window.

Here’s how the revised Hong Kong schedule now looks, with six daily flights during the upcoming northern winter season, including former A380 services now planned for the Boeing 777-300ER, and those still retaining the superjumbo for a short period.

Singapore Hong Kong
27th October 2024 – 29th March 2025

All services operate daily

			Aircraft	Dates
	SQ874		359 LH A350 LH	All
SIN 07:35		HKG 11:20
	SQ882		359 LH A350 LH	All
SIN 08:25		HKG 12:25
	SQ892		77W 777-300ER	27 Oct – 15 Jan 1 Feb – 29 Mar
SIN 09:55		HKG 13:55	388 A380	16 Jan – 31 Jan
	SQ894		359 MH A350 MH	All
SIN 13:10		HKG 17:10
	SQ896		359 MH A350 MH	All
SIN 15:30		HKG 19:30
	SQ898		359 MH A350 MH	All
SIN 18:55		HKG 22:45

Hong Kong Singapore
27th October 2024 – 29th March 2025

All services operate daily

			Aircraft	Dates
	SQ897		359 MH A350 MH	All
HKG 08:00		SIN 12:00
	SQ899		359 MH A350 MH	All
HKG 09:05		SIN 13:05
	SQ875		359 LH A350 LH	All
HKG 12:30		SIN 16:30
	SQ883		359 LH A350 LH	All
HKG 14:10		SIN 18:10
	SQ893		77W 777-300ER	27 Oct – 15 Jan 1 Feb – 29 Mar
HKG 15:45		SIN 19:50	388 A380	16 Jan – 31 Jan
	SQ895		359 MH A350 MH	All
HKG 18:50		SIN 22:50

As you can see, aside from a two-week period in January 2025 the Boeing 777-300ER will be operating on this route, meaning older 2013 First Class (no Suites) and 2013 Business Class seats.

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 affected SQ892/893 flights, 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.

Unfortunately there are no Suites alternatives on the Hong Kong route over the affected dates.

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.

The A380 returns to Hong Kong in late March 2025

According to Singapore Airlines’ current schedule, Hong Kong is expected to see the return of consistent daily Airbus A380 service during the northern summer 2025 season.

Assuming no changes, here’s how the schedule looks next summer, with superjumbo service restored to the SQ892/893 flights.

Singapore Hong Kong
30th March 2025 – 25th October 2025

All services operate daily

			Aircraft	Dates
	SQ874		359 LH A350 LH	All
SIN 07:35		HKG 11:20
	SQ882		359 MH A350 MH	All
SIN 08:40		HKG 12:40
	SQ892		388 A380	All
SIN 09:40		HKG 13:55
	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
30th March 2025 – 25th October 2025

All services operate daily

			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	All
HKG 15:40		SIN 19:35
	SQ895		359 LH A350 LH	All
HKG 18:50		SIN 22:40

KrisFlyer award rates

Here are the latest KrisFlyer award rates for the Singapore – Hong Kong route, including for the First Class / Suites cabin, where available.

KrisFlyer Redemption Singapore ⇄ Hong Kong
	Saver	Advantage
Economy	16,500	30,000
Premium Economy	26,500	n/a
Business	34,000	50,000
First / Suites	45,000	73,000

Hong Kong is the cheapest way to redeem KrisFlyer miles for the Airbus A380 Suite and Business Class cabin products, at 45,000 miles and 34,000 miles respectively.

It’s therefore a shame that this option is being axed for most of the coming winter months, especially since Shanghai A380 flights are also suspended over the same period, leaving Delhi and Mumbai as the cheapest A380 awards.

SIA’s A380 schedule this winter

Here’s how the the Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 schedule looks for the upcoming winter season, based on GDS timetables as of 12th August 2024.

SIA Winter 24/25 A380 Flights (provisional)
Route	Flights	Frequency
Delhi	SQ406/403	7 x weekly
Frankfurt (except 26 Dec, 15-31 Jan)	SQ326/325	7 x weekly
Hong Kong (16-31 Jan only)	SQ892/893	7 x weekly
London	SQ322/317 SQ308/319	7 x weekly 7 x weekly
Mumbai	SQ424/423	7 x weekly
Shanghai (15-31 Jan only)	SQ830/833	7 x weekly
Sydney	SQ221/232 SQ231/222	7 x weekly 7 x weekly

This is a very limited list for SIA’s 12 Airbus A380s, leaving only five cities (Delhi, Frankfurt, London, Mumbai and Sydney) with consistent superjumbo service this winter.

A temporary two-week withdrawal of the A380 from Frankfurt flights in late January 2025 appears to support temporary peak CNY resumption for the type on both Hong Kong and Shanghai routes, though it’s short-lived.

Aircraft downtime is the likely cause – SIA’s ageing Airbus A380s are plagued with maintenance requirements and airworthiness directives that see them spending a lot of time in the hangar lately, already causing schedule changes during this current summer season.

SIA recently flew one of its A380s (9V-SKT) empty for 13.5 hours to Teruel in Spain for maintenance, while two more A380s are hangared in Singapore at the time of writing (-SKQ and -SKY), bringing the current operating superjumbo fleet down to only nine aircraft.

Full schedules for the winter season will become finalised in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for the latest details as we receive them.

As we expected, Singapore Airlines will withdraw its Airbus A380 from a daily Hong Kong flight this coming winter season, from late October 2024 to late March 2025, instead using a four-class Boeing 777-300ER on the service.

That’s bad news for those booked in the Suites cabin, most of whom will now be in the less exciting (but still good) 2013 First Class seat.

There’s still a two-week period of A380 operation on this service between 16th January and 31st January 2025, over the CNY holiday, for those lucky enough to already be booked during that period.

Despite the withdrawal of the A380 from this route, it’s planned to return on the SQ892/893 Hong Kong flights from the start of the summer season in late March 2025.

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