As travel has rebounded following the COVID-19 pandemic, most Singapore Airlines routes now see a full recovery of capacity, with the majority of key regional and long-haul destinations back in full swing – some even exceeding pre-pandemic levels.

Overall, SIA passenger flight departures from Singapore have reached 93% of pre-COVID based on our analysis, with passenger seat capacity at 96%, compared to former combined SIA and SilkAir operation.

Despite this, the airline’s busiest route rankings have undergone something of a dynamic reshaping in recent years.

Some cities have fallen behind, with capacity recovery reaching only about two-thirds of pre-COVID levels, while others have climbed the table as Singapore Airlines shifts capacity to different markets, to better address demand.

In this article, we break down Singapore Airlines’ top 15 busiest routes by both seat capacity and weekly flight frequencies, comparing current figures (w/c 16th December 2024) to pre-COVID data (w/c 16th December 2019).

Top 15 routes

Here’s how cities on the Singapore Airlines network rank in terms of one-way seat capacity from Singapore, and how that compares to 2019 levels.

Busiest Routes by Weekly Seat Capacity (December 2024)
Rank	City	Seat Capacity	vs. pre-COVID
①	Jakarta	15,022	14%
②	Bangkok	13,916	8%
③	Bali*	12,873	31%
④	Sydney	12,061	1%
⑤	London	11,555	15%
⑥	Kuala Lumpur*	10,593	19%
⑦	Tokyo	10,297	17%
⑧	Hong Kong	9,632	33%
⑨	Perth	9,198	3%
⑩	Melbourne	9,009	8%
⑪	Manila	8,960	2%
⑫	Seoul	8,960	6%
⑬	Beijing	8,687	28%
⑭	Shanghai	8,337	11%
⑮	Brisbane	7,575	7%

* Comparison vs. pre-COVID includes former SilkAir capacity

Here’s the same analysis for flight frequencies ex-Singapore, a slightly different metric that elevates some regional cities that see multiple flights using smaller aircraft into the top 15 table.

Busiest Routes by Weekly Flights (December 2024)
Rank	City	Weekly Flights	vs. pre-COVID
①	Jakarta	56	11%
②	Kuala Lumpur*	52	25%
③	Bangkok	42
④	Bali*	42	20%
⑤	Phuket*	42	20%
⑥	Sydney	35
⑦	Hong Kong	35	29%
⑧	Melbourne	35	9%
⑨	Penang	35	17%
⑩	Tokyo	35	17%
⑪	London	33	18%
⑫	Perth	28
⑬	Manila	28
⑭	Seoul	28
⑮	Beijing	28	33%

* Comparison vs. pre-COVID includes former SilkAir flights

Jakarta remains the undisputed leader, both by seat capacity and flight frequencies, reaffirming its importance to the airline, however this is a relatively recent development.

Until November 2024, the Indonesian capital was languishing at number five on the list by seat capacity, prior to the announcement of two additional weekly services.

Even then, capacity and frequencies on the route remain over 10% lower than pre-COVID, though at least that’s moving in the right direction lately.

Popular regional business and leisure destinations Bangkok and Bali are showing impressive growth, both of which have surged beyond pre-pandemic levels in capacity terms, with increased frequencies and / or larger aircraft now deployed.

London and Beijing are also seeing strong growth compared to pre-pandemic operation, thanks to SIA’s expansion to secondary airports in both cities earlier this year – Gatwick and Daxing respectively.

Strangely, Kuala Lumpur, the carrier’s third-busiest route before COVID, still lags with a 19% capacity shortfall. With one in four flights yet to return to the schedule, the Malaysian capital has now slipped to sixth place on the carrier’s latest rankings.

Hong Kong is struggling

The one notable standout in the statistics is Hong Kong, which was SIA’s second-busiest route by seat capacity and third-largest by flight frequencies before the pandemic, but now sits down at eighth and seventh place respectively in these rankings.

Indeed, there has been consistent last-minute award availability for Business Class and Premium Economy on the Singapore-Hong Kong route through the airline’s monthly KrisFlyer Spontaneous Escapes offer, featured in all of the last six months of 2024. Discounted Economy Class awards were also offered in five of those six months.

By contrast, Hong Kong appeared in only two out of the six Spontaneous Escapes deals during second half of 2019, despite significantly higher capacity on the route at the time.

This trend underscores weak travel demand between Singapore and Hong Kong, a city that endured some of the world’s strictest travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hong Kong only finally removed the last of its testing requirements for travellers in April 2023, a year after Singapore fully reopened its borders.

Highlighting this sluggish recovery, the Singapore-Hong Kong route even witnessed what must be one of Changi Airport’s shortest-lived passenger services earlier this year, when Greater Bay Airlines discontinued its new non-stop flights after just one month, citing “commercial reasons after considering the latest market situations”.

SIA has still not programmed a return of its Singapore – Hong Kong – San Francisco flights since these were suspended in January 2022, when Hong Kong banned transit passengers.

We were hoping to see a return for this popular service by now, but it has not materialised.

Top 15: Business Class

Most of our readers are accruing KrisFlyer miles for one of the best value redemptions they offer – a Business Class award ticket on Singapore Airlines.

It’s therefore interesting to take a look at the carrier’s current top 15 routes based solely on Business Class seat capacity, as this too has shifted not only due to changes in flight frequencies but also the deployment of different aircraft types since pre-COVID.

Here’s how cities on the Singapore Airlines network rank in terms of one-way Business Class seat capacity from Singapore, and how that compares to 2019 levels.

Busiest Routes by Weekly Business Class Seat Capacity (December 2024)
Rank	City	J Seat Capacity	vs. pre-COVID
①	Jakarta	2,408	14%
②	Sydney	2,058	4%
③	London	1,974	21%
④	Melbourne	1,554	7%
⑤	Bangkok	1,540	9%
⑥	Tokyo	1,484	28%
⑦	Hong Kong	1,484	37%
⑧	Bali	1,330	32%
⑨	New York	1,274	43%
⑩	Shanghai	1,134	23%
⑪	Kuala Lumpur	1,130	12%
⑫	Beijing	1,120	3%
⑬	Manila	1,064	6%
⑭	Seoul	1,064	7%
⑮	Perth	1,036	3%

If you’re finding it difficult to secure Business Class awards to and from Tokyo lately – it’s hardly surprising. While the carrier has restored 83% of its flight frequencies to and from the Japanese capital, Business Class seat capacity is still down over a quarter (28%) compared to pre-COVID.

This shift is due to the airline previously operating larger aircraft on this route, such as the Airbus A380 (with 60 or 86 Business Class seats) and Boeing 777-300 (with 50 Business Class seats). These have since been replaced by smaller aircraft on Tokyo flights, including the Boeing 787-10, which offers just 36 Business Class seats.

On the flip side, additional frequencies to Bali, London and New York show record Business Class capacity being offered to those markets by SIA – though of course that doesn’t always mean Saver award seats are easy to come by, especially for the latter two.

Which routes does SIA still need to return to?

With 79 destinations across the Singapore Airlines and former SilkAir network now reinstated since COVID-19, it’s interesting to consider which cities or airports are still to be added to the list (or not, as the case may be).

Singapore Airlines / SilkAir Routes
Pending Reinstatement

	City / Airport
Pending reinstatement (SIA route)	Moscow
Pending reinstatement (former SilkAir route)	Bandung* Mandalay (seasonal)
Transferred to Scoot (and still pending reinstatement)	Semarang
Discontinued since COVID-19 (no planned reinstatement)	Canberra Dusseldorf Hiroshima Stockholm Wellington

* Scoot launched Singapore – Kertajati flights in September 2024, the new airport for Bandung

Moscow isn’t likely to see a return for Singapore Airlines in the short term due to ongoing geopolitical tensions, but otherwise most routes have already been reinstated.

It’s also worth noting that the airline has added service to Brussels, London Gatwick and Beijing Daxing airports in recent months, none of which were served by the carrier prior to the pandemic, though Houston faces the chop from late March 2025.

Singapore Airlines has restored most of its network since COVID-19, though the recovery is far from even, with some routes still struggling and some significantly exceeding pre-pandemic capacities.

Jakarta remains the carrier’s busiest route by both weekly seat capacity (15,022 each way) and flight frequency (56 weekly return flights), but Bali, Bangkok and London show impressive growth, with additional frequencies and larger aircraft deployed.

However, Hong Kong lags well behind, with significantly lower capacity and weaker demand, likely in part due to the city-state’s prolonged pandemic-related restrictions.

SIA’s top routes by Business Class seat capacity show Jakarta leading, followed by Sydney, London, and Melbourne. Despite recovering frequencies, some routes – like Tokyo – still have significantly reduced Business Class capacity on offer, due in part to smaller aircraft replacing larger ones.

However, Bali, London, and New York have reached record Business Class seat capacities, thanks to additional flights.

(Cover Photo: Ore Huiying)