Singapore Airlines has been severely trimming its Airbus A380 network over the last few months, with planned services to Hong Kong, Delhi, Mumbai and Sydney all downgauged to smaller aircraft types during certain periods of the current summer 2024 season.

The pattern continues into the upcoming winter period, with Frankfurt flights replaced with three-class Airbus A350s over Chinese New Year, and both Hong Kong and Shanghai having their regular daily superjumbo flights scaled back to Boeing 777-300ER operation for practically the entire five-month season, through to March 2025.

Thankfully there’s now some good news to report, with Singapore Airlines recently confirming in a new schedule update that the A380 will operate a daily service to and from Tokyo Narita during the first two months of next year’s summer season, between late March 2025 and late May 2025.

This service will replace a two-class Boeing 787-10, and is planned to operate alongside the carrier’s daily Boeing 777-300ER Singapore – Tokyo Narita service, which continues to and from Los Angeles.

The schedule

Here’s how the Singapore Airlines’ schedule looks on the Singapore – Tokyo Narita route from 30th March 2025 to 31st May 2025, with Airbus A380 service SQ638/637 highlighted.

Singapore – Tokyo Narita
30th March – 31st May 2025

			Days
			M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	SQ12 777-300ER
SIN 09:25		NRT 17:30
Duration: 07:05
	SQ638 A380
SIN 23:55		NRT 08:30*
Duration: 07:05

* Next day

Tokyo Narita – Singapore
31st March – 1st June 2025

			Days
			M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	SQ637 A380
NRT 11:10		SIN 17:20
Duration: 07:10
	SQ11 777-300ER
NRT 19:00		SIN 01:15*
Duration: 07:15

* Next day

This will bring superjumbo service back to the Tokyo route towards the latter part of the peak Sakura (cherry blossom) travel season, but the link is set to revert to the two-class Boeing 787-10 from June 2025 onwards.

As with the A380’s pre-pandemic timings on this route, it’s an overnight flight up to Japan but a more civilised daytime service in the southbound direction, making the latter potentially a better option to experience seven hours of premium service in the sought-after Suites cabin.

The airline will continue to serve Tokyo Haneda three times per day in the summer 2025 season based on current schedules, one using a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft and the other two using Airbus A350 Medium Haul jets.

SIA’s history of A380 Tokyo flights

Singapore Airlines first served Tokyo with the Airbus A380 in July 2011, when the carrier swapped out Boeing 777-300ER aircraft on the Singapore – Tokyo – Los Angeles SQ12/11 routing to the superjumbo on a daily basis, also serving the USA with the A380 for the first time.

While that route swapped back to Boeing 777-300ER operation in October 2016, the A380 has still served Tokyo Narita on and off over the years, including the launch of new 2017 cabin products featuring the latest Suites and Business Class seats on the route in January 2020.

Sadly COVID-19 quickly put pay to that a little over three months later, but the type did see a recent return for the whole of the winter 2023/24 season.

This latest short-term return of the A380 on these Narita flights is a good sign that Singapore Airlines remains committed to operating the type in this market where it can, though with only 12 superjumbos now in its long-term fleet a return to year-round or even full-season operation seems optimistic.

Award rates

Here are the one-way redemption rates you’ll pay by cabin class on the Tokyo route, in either direction, using the KrisFlyer program for a full flight redemption.

KrisFlyer Redemption Singapore ⇄ Tokyo
	Saver	Advantage
Economy	27,000	45,000
Premium Economy	37,500	n/a
Business	52,000	70,000
First / Suites	77,000	120,000

Tokyo Narita does well on our KrisFlyer miles per minute analysis in Business Class, with a saver award clocking in at 122 miles per minute (network average 139), though Suites is more run-of-the-mill at 180 miles per minute (close to the First/Suites combined network average of 181).

We’re seeing Saver Business availability on SQ638/637 for 52,000 miles quite widely available during this A380 operating period, thanks to the 78-seat capacity of the A380’s Business Class cabin, compared to 36 seats on the 787-10.

Unfortunately we’re seeing only some waitlist Saver Suites availability on the new SQ638/637 flights for 77,000 miles one-way at this stage, though 120,000-mile Advantage space is immediately bookable on many dates.

Advantage space is immediately-bookable for up to six people (i.e. the entire Suites cabin) on many dates, while you can waitlist at the Saver rate for up to four passengers on many dates.

PPS Club members may have access to a wider selection of awards on this route, including better Saver space.

Keep checking is the golden rule here – both Business Class and Suites award space comes and goes (it’s dynamic, not fixed) and will vary in the weeks and months ahead, based on supply and demand.

At the time of writing, out of 372 Suites operating on this route in April and May next year, only 12 outbound (out of 372) have been booked, and only 28 inbound (out of 372) have been booked, either as cash fares or as awards.

2017 cabin products

This A380 service will mean a brief return of SIA’s latest Airbus A380 cabin products to the Japan market for the first time in two years, with the last service for these cabins on this route ending back in late March 2023.

2017 Suites

The biggest selling point of the newly configured A380s is the latest Suites cabin, located on the forward upper deck with a capacity of just six, three either side of a central aisle.

Two of the Suite pairs (1A/2A and 1F/2F) can combine to form a double suite if you are travelling with someone else.

You can read our review of the double suite on a flight from Singapore to Hong Kong in 2018 below.

Although Singapore Airlines stopped short of installing showers in the latest A380 fit, there are two large washrooms at the front of the cabin, one of which is so big it has its own separate vanity area.

We also enjoyed the ‘A380 Restaurant@Changi’ experience on board the new Suites cabin back in October 2020 – see our review here.

Since these Tokyo flights are in excess of 5 hours, Suites passengers are supplied with amenity kits and pyjamas.

Suite selection

If you’re flying on the SQ638/637 Tokyo Narita route in April or May 2025 on the Airbus A380 the Suite seat map will now (very happily) look like this:

Couples will clearly want to go for the two double suite options at 1A/2A or 1F/2F. Here the dividing screen between the suites retracts and allows for a double bed setup.

Suites 3A and 3F are standalone options, lacking the ability to combine with adjacent suites. They also have the smallest footprint and are close to the galley, potentially leading to some light and noise disturbance.

While we don’t want to spoil anyone’s fun by blocking the double suites, as solo travellers we would still choose row 1 or row 2 for not only a larger suite (row 3 suites are the smallest), but less potential disturbance.

2017 Business Class

Another great advantage of the new Singapore Airlines A380 cabins is the excellent Business Class product, our personal favourite in the fleet, with 78 of these seats occupying the rest of the upper deck in a 1-2-1 layout.

There’s the option at the middle seat pairs to retract the divider for couples travelling together, who also benefit from a ‘double bed’ at the three bulkhead positions – Rows 11, 91 and 96.

Since these Tokyo flights are in excess of 6 hours, Business Class passengers are supplied with amenity kits.

It’s certainly great to see this product offered to and from Japan once again with this daily A380 Tokyo service for a brief period next year.

Japan will see the return of its Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 service for the first time in a year from late March 2025, in time for the peak Sakura travel season.

The superjumbo will be reinstated on its SQ638/637 daily rotation for two months in April and May next year, offering four classes of travel with the latest cabin products fitted, including the sought-after Suites cabin.

Award space is waitlisted at the Saver level in Suites, but is more widely available in the Business Class cabin, though do keep checking as more seats can be added later.

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