Singapore Airlines recently unveiled a major global expansion of its route network, which is due to take place over the rest of this year and the next.
Singapore Airlines shares jumped 1.8% in Thursday’s tradings.
Since its reopening post-COVID, the airline hasn’t been messing around in wanting to maximize its operations as much as possible.
Ms. JoAnn Tan, the Senior VP of Marketing Planning at Singapore Airlines, had this to say on the overall theme of the global expansion:
“With the release of SIA’s Northern Summer schedules, our customers can plan ahead and start to make their travel plans for 2024.”
“Our customers will be able to enjoy greater choice and flexibility when they travel with us as SIA continues to adjust and expand our network in response to demand patterns.”
Let’s see what the carrier is expanding around the world…
Australia…
In Australia, Singapore Airlines will be increasing the following services:
Cairns – Services to reduce from five-weekly to four-weekly from March 31 next year. However, there will be a capacity upgrade from the Boeing 737 MAX 8 to the Airbus A350-900.
Darwin – From March 31, 2024, this will ramp up from five-weekly to daily services.
Melbourne – Services to Melbourne will increase to five daily from May 26, 2024.
Perth – From November 24 this year, services will step up to four weekly and then to daily from March 31 next year.
Bangladesh…
As for Bangladesh, Singapore Airlines will mount an additional two-weekly service between its hub and Dhaka.
From March 31 next year, this will be operated by a Boeing 737 MAX 8, and from July 4, that will be upgraded to a Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner.
China…
Services to China, which notably include Hong Kong under that umbrella, are as follows:
Beijing – From May 1, a third daily service to Beijing will be added using the carrier’s Airbus A350-900 aircraft.
Hong Kong – From October 29, a fifth daily service will be added, and then from August 1, 2024, this will upgrade to six daily, bringing the service back to pre-pandemic levels.
Shanghai – From October 1, a fourth daily service will be added, and then from March 31, 2024, a fifth daily will be added, also bringing the route back to pre-pandemic levels.
Denmark…
From July 1, 2024, Singapore Airlines will increase from five times per week to daily and will use the Airbus A350-900 for this service.
This service will also restore operations back to pre-pandemic levels. There is beginning to be a theme flowing from this global expansion.
Germany…
The Airbus A380 in the Singapore Airlines fleet will be returning to Frankfurt on March 31 next year, which will replace the A350-900 that has been operating the route currently.
It also means the return of the aircraft type to the airline’s operations in Continental Europe as well.
India…
Looking to September 2024, the carrier’s service between Singapore and Ahmedabad will increase from five weekly to daily.
The Airbus A350-900 will be utilized for this route.
Japan…
Over the course of this year and next year, the airline will be making several upgrades to its services to Tokyo Haneda.
From October 1 this year, a third daily service will be added, and from September 1 next year, a fourth daily service will also be implemented.
Malaysia…
Malaysia will see a major expansion over the Summer 2024 season, with services expected to increase from 47-weekly to 66-weekly.
From March 31 next year, a daily service to Kuala Lumpur will be implemented on top of the five additional weekly services.
Then, from August 1, another daily service will be added to that as well.
The Maldives…
Services between Singapore and the Maldives will see services to Male upgraded from the Boeing 737 MAX 8 to the Airbus A350-900.
Frequencies will remain the same as daily, with a lunchtime arrival and departure.
Singapore Airlines’ Fifth Freedom Flights To Be Changed Around…
As we know, Singapore Airlines operates certain fifth freedom flights around the globe. The following services will be upgraded from this:
Singapore-Manchester-Houston – From March 31, this will increase from thrice weekly to five weekly, returning back to pre-pandemic scheduling.
Singapore-Milan-Barcelona – It is understood that this fifth freedom flight will decrease from five weekly to thrice weekly, but this is because direct services between Singapore and Barcelona will resume on a twice-weekly, and services to Milan will go up from twice weekly to four weekly.
Myanmar…
From August 2 next year, an additional three weekly services will be added to Yangon and will increase overall frequencies from seven weekly to 10 weekly.
The Boeing 737 MAX 8 is the aircraft of choice for this route.
The UAE…
Four additional weekly flights will be added to Dubai from Singapore, using the Airbus A350-900, which will bring the overall frequencies to 11 weekly.
The U.S…
Services between Singapore and Seattle will increase by one weekly additional flight on May 28 next year, which means that this will increase from thrice weekly to four weekly.
Vietnam…
Finally, the airline will be increasing services in Da Nang, Vietnam.
First, from October 29, the SQ173/174 service will increase from thrice-weekly to a daily service, then from July 1 next year, SQ171/172 will then go daily also.
It means ultimately that up to 14 flights per week will be serviced into the region by Singapore Airlines.
Overall: Big Step from Singapore Airlines…
Now that we have tried to shorten the massive press release put out by the airline, this represents a big step in meeting pre-pandemic levels.
As travel demand continues to explode in intensity, we will no doubt see changes to these route announcements in due course, but for now, Singapore Airlines is in a much better position.
All eyes will be on the carrier to see how the rest of 2023 goes for them, as well as what benefits 2024 will bring with these route upgrades.
