Singapore Airlines has postponed the return of its Dubai flights yet again, with SQ494 and SQ495 now cancelled through to 1st December 2026, more than five weeks beyond the most recently planned 25th October restart date.
If this latest plan holds, the route will resume on 2nd December 2026 using two-class Airbus A350 Medium Haul aircraft. By then, Dubai will have gone more than nine months without a single Singapore Airlines flight.
In something of a twist, SIA’s Riyadh launch is unaffected for now and remains set for 1st December 2026. That means the airline’s brand new route to the Saudi capital (well, strictly speaking a reinstated route after a 12-year hiatus) is now due to take off a day before its long-established Dubai service comes back.
Dubai cancelled until December
The latest extension to Dubai’s suspension came via an update to SIA’s standing travel advisory on 1st October 2026. The airline once again cites “the geopolitical situation in the Middle East” as the reason for the postponement.
As with previous updates, it’s a straightforward date extension of the advisory first published on 1st March 2026. It now confirms that SQ494 (Singapore to Dubai) and SQ495 (Dubai to Singapore) are cancelled until 1st December 2026, and warns that other SIA flights may also be affected as the situation remains fluid.
The previous plan had the route returning on 25th October 2026, the first day of the northern winter 2026/27 (NW26/27) season. Instead, it will now miss the first five and a half weeks of that season, including all of November.
(Photo: Diego Delso)
That makes five planned restart dates that have now come and gone. Here’s how the saga has unfolded so far:
- 1st January 2026: SIA announces the A380 for Dubai, from 29th March 2026
- 5th February 2026: Year-round A380 operation confirmed for the route
- 28th February 2026: Flights suspended, as military strikes trigger widespread Middle East airspace closures
- 20th March 2026: The Dubai A380 is redeployed to Melbourne instead, at short notice
- 2nd April 2026: Restart pushed back to 1st June 2026, with a 777-300ER swapped in for the summer (a brief 30th April restart plan came and went in between)
- 1st May 2026: Restart pushed back again to 3rd August 2026, with First Class and Premium Economy sales pulled for the winter season
- 15th July 2026: Flights cancelled through to 24th October 2026, A350 Medium Haul to operate for the winter 2026/27 season
- 1st October 2026: Flights cancelled through to 1st December 2026, restart now planned for 2nd December
As it happens, 2nd December is UAE National Day. That would be a fitting date for the route’s return, if it finally sticks.
Meanwhile Emirates remains the only operator on the Singapore – Dubai route, with four daily flights (two A380s and two 777-300ERs). Provisionally, the carrier is set to upgrade the route back to three daily A380s and a single 777-300ER from late March 2027.
(Photo: Markus Mainka)
A350 MH from 2nd December
There’s no change to SIA’s aircraft plan for the winter on this route, with the two-class Airbus A350 Medium Haul still loaded from the new restart date through to 27th March 2027.
As a reminder, the A350 MH has 40 Business Class seats in the 2018 Regional configuration and 263 Economy Class seats. That means no First Class and no Premium Economy to or from Dubai until late March 2027 at the earliest.
(Photo: MainlyMiles)
Singapore Airlines
Singapore Dubai
2 Dec 2026 – 27 Mar 2027
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
 |
SQ494 A350 MH |
||||||||
| SIN 14:30 |
DXB 18:00 |
||||||||
| Duration: 07:30 | |||||||||
|
SQ495 A350 MH |
||||||||
| DXB 19:50 |
SIN 07:15* |
||||||||
| Duration: 07:25 | |||||||||
* Next day
Given the track record so far, that 2nd December date should be pencilled in, rather than inked in.
Riyadh beats Dubai back
Singapore Airlines has made no change to its Riyadh plans, at least for now. The route is still set to launch on 1st December 2026, operating three times weekly with the A350 Medium Haul.
Singapore Riyadh
1 Dec 2026 – 25 Mar 2027
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
|
SQ498 A350 MH |
||||||||
| SIN 17:40 |
RUH 21:35 |
||||||||
| Duration: 08:55 | |||||||||
|
SQ499 A350 MH |
||||||||
| RUH 22:50 |
SIN 11:50* |
||||||||
| Duration: 08:00 | |||||||||
* Next day
This is already the third launch date for the route. It moved from the original 2nd June 2026 to 1st September 2026, and then to 1st December 2026 in July, alongside a 25% frequency cut.
Assuming both plans now hold, the Saudi capital will see its first Singapore Airlines flight in over 12 years on 1st December. That’s a day before Dubai, a city SIA has served almost continuously for decades, gets its service back.
(Photo: Shutterstock)
It’s worth noting that Riyadh has never featured in SIA’s Middle East advisory. Both previous postponements appeared quietly in booking systems rather than through any formal announcement.
What about the A380 next year?
From 28th March 2027, the first day of the northern summer 2027 season, Dubai is still scheduled for a four-class aircraft, with all cabins on sale, in the form of the Boeing 777-300ER.
That’s a downgauge from the Airbus A380 that was planned, exactly as the four-seat First Class sales cap we flagged in July suggested it would be, and means there are no SIA superjumbo services to or from the city planned in the current published schedule.
Here’s the schedule for that period.
Singapore Airlines
Singapore Dubai
28 Mar 2027 – 30 Oct 2027
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
|
SQ494 777-300ER |
||||||||
| SIN 14:40 |
DXB 18:00 |
||||||||
| Duration: 07:20 | |||||||||
|
SQ495 777-300ER |
||||||||
| DXB 19:45 |
SIN 07:30* |
||||||||
| Duration: 07:45 | |||||||||
* Next day
For more on where the superjumbos are currently deployed instead, see our recent article on where Singapore Airlines is flying its A380s.
Scoot’s Jeddah flights also out until December
It’s a similar story over at Scoot. The low-cost subsidiary updated its own Middle East advisory yesterday (30th September 2026), confirming that TR796 (Singapore to Jeddah) and TR797 (Jeddah to Singapore) are now cancelled until 2nd December 2026.
(Photo: Boeing)
The Saudi Arabia route has had an even rougher 2026 than SIA’s Dubai service:
- Up to 26th February 2026: Operating normally
- 28th February – 21st June 2026: Fully suspended, with a tentative April restart abandoned and cancellations extended month by month
- 22nd June – 13th July 2026: Flights resumed three times weekly following the 60-day interim peace deal signed on 17th June, but lasted just three weeks
- 14th July 2026 onwards: Suspended again, with the cancellation extended several times since
- 30th September 2026: Cancellation extended until 2nd December 2026
That means Scoot has operated its Jeddah route for only around three weeks out of the past seven months.
It also means that, if all three plans hold, the SIA Group’s entire Middle East network will restart within a few days in early December – Riyadh on 1st December, Dubai on 2nd December and Jeddah on 3rd December.
Whether all three dates survive the next two months is another matter entirely.
Interestingly, Scoot isn’t selling any new seats on its Jeddah flights until the northern summer season in late March 2027, leaving only those with existing bookings from 3rd December 2026 to 27th March 2027 potentially affected by further postponements.
What if you’re booked?
If you hold a ticket on SIA’s Dubai flights up to and including 1st December 2026, you’re entitled to a full refund of the unused portion.
Those who booked directly with the airline can apply through SIA’s Assistance Request Form. Bookings made via travel agents or partner airlines should be handled by the agent or airline concerned.
SIA also recommends keeping your contact details up to date via Manage Booking so you receive flight status updates.
Riyadh bookings are unaffected for now, so normal fare rules apply. If the launch slips again, the same refund entitlement would be expected to apply.
If you’ve redeemed KrisFlyer miles on Dubai flights over the affected period, expect to be contacted with rebooking or refund options.
Scoot passengers booked on cancelled Jeddah flights can request a full refund, or rebook onto alternative Scoot flights.
KrisFlyer awards
Here are the one-way KrisFlyer award rates for the Singapore – Dubai and Singapore – Riyadh routes. Premium Economy and First Class are only relevant for Dubai, and only from 28th March 2027, when the four-class 777-300ER is scheduled to take over.
| KrisFlyer Redemption Rates One-Way Singapore ⇄ Middle East |
||||
| Airline / Cabin | Saver | Advantage | Access | |
 |
Economy Class |
32,000 |
66,500 |
95,500 |
|
Premium Economy |
51,500 |
n/a |
74,000 to 91,000 |
|
Business Class |
68,000 |
122,000 |
157,500 to 251,500 |
|
First Class |
95,000 |
171,000 |
317,500 |
Taxes and fees apply in addition to miles. They typically total around S$68 from Singapore to Dubai / Riyadh, around S$47 for Dubai – Singapore and around S$58 for Riyadh – Singapore.
Singapore’s SAF levy now applies to redemptions made from 1st October 2026 for travel on or after 1st January 2027. It adds S$25.60 in First / Business Class or S$6.40 in Premium Economy / Economy Class in the ex-Singapore direction on both routes.
Summary
Singapore Airlines has pushed back its Dubai restart yet again, with SQ494 and SQ495 now cancelled until 1st December 2026. Assuming no further changes, the route returns on 2nd December with the two-class A350 Medium Haul, more than nine months after the last flight.
The more unusual development is that Riyadh, a route SIA hasn’t served in over 12 years, is now due to launch a day before Dubai returns. That is provided its own 1st December start date survives, after already slipping twice this year.
Scoot’s Jeddah flights, which managed only three weeks in the air over the summer, are also now cancelled until 2nd December, so the SIA Group’s Middle East plans all hinge on the same early December window – and Scoot isn’t even selling new tickets on its Jeddah flights for the next six months.
None of these dates can be relied on given how this year has gone, so anyone with plans to Dubai, Riyadh or Jeddah in December should keep a close eye on their booking.
We’ll keep tracking all three routes, along with whether SIA’s A380 ever makes it to Dubai.
(Cover Photo: Skycolors / Shutterstock)