Singapore Airlines has announced a series of changes to its schedule for 2023. Most of these changes are increasing frequencies to existing destinations with the current aircraft types, but there’s a few noteworthy adjustments. These more interesting changes are the increase in A380 operations to Australia, and a return to Busan (PUS). The changes aren’t happening till middle or even late 2023, but it’s good to keep some of these in mind if you’re making plans for 2023. There’s quite a lot of unpack in the schedule changes, so I’ll take run through each set of adjustments and share my thoughts on them along the way.
Melbourne gets the A380 again, Sydney goes double daily
Having lived in Melbourne for a number of years, the reintroduction of the A380 to Melbourne is exciting for me personally. As SIA’s press release states, it’ll be almost four years pause in A380 ops to Melbourne once it returns on 16 May 2023. As of that date, the A380 will replace the current 777-300ER aircraft on the daily SQ237/228 rotation. The flight will operate with the following timings:
| Flight No. | Direction | Dep Time | Arr Time |
| SQ237 | Singapore to Melbourne | 0025 | 0950 +1 day |
| SQ228 | Melbourne to Singapore | 1540 | 2130 |
The change to the A380 is of course great news for anyone booked in First Class, as they’ll now be getting the amazing 2017 2nd-generation Suites rather than the 777 First seats. Business class will also be getting the 2017 A380 Business Class rather than the 2013 version on 777, along with an increase from 48 to 78 seats. Both seat products have their pros and cons, so it’s more of a personal preference there. Premium Economy gets a massive capacity jump from 28 to 44 seats, though there’s no difference in the hard product. Economy capacity will also nearly double, from 184 to 343 seats.
Melbourne used to get the A380 seasonally, and it’s always been a bit of a tricky destination with regards to the deployment of the A380. In the more recent pre-pandemic years, the A380 had usually been deployed on the SQ217/218 rotation, with a late morning departure ex-SIN and overnight return from Melbourne. In the earlier days, it tended to take up the SQ227/228 flight pair. This was problematic from a utilisation perspective, as the aircraft would spend around 9-10h on the ground in MEL. Deploying the A380 on SQ228 makes sense, as this flight traditionally most of the traffic connecting onwards to Europe on the late night departure bank ex-SIN. SQ237 on the other hand usually doesn’t pick up that much connecting traffic, as SQ227 departs earlier and thus gives shorter connection times in SIN for late afternoon European arrivals into SIN. It’ll be interesting to see how well Singapore Airlines can fill the A380 on SQ237.
Besides the reintroduction of the A380 to Melbourne, Sydney will also get double daily A380s from 17 May 2023. The A380 will replace the medium-haul A350 currently deployed on the SQ221/232 flight pair, complementing the existing A380 service on SQ231/222.
| Flight No. | Direction | Dep Time | Arr Time |
| SQ221 | Singapore to Sydney | 2020 | 0555 +1 day |
| SQ232 | Sydney to Singapore | 1100 | 1730 |
While Singapore Airlines touts this as an increase, this essentially restores Sydney to what it had pre-pandemic. In opinion, reverting to the A380 on SQ221/232 will be long overdue by the time it eventually happens next year. Of course, operational reasons have probably prevented Singapore Airlines from being able to restore the second A380 to Sydney.
In terms of redemption availability, if you’re hoping to any Suites Saver redemption, unfortunately it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. I had a scan through the calendar up till September 2023, while there’s good Advantage level availability, Singapore Airlines have continued to restrict Saver awards for Suites. Of course, I’m merely a lowly Krisflyer Elite Gold, and Solitaire PPS Club members may be to find some Saver awards or at least waitlist for them.
Overall, it’s good to see more A380s being deployed to Australia, and I may just spring for SQ237/228 after it goes over to the A380, for my annual Melbourne trip in 2023.
But New York-JFK loses the A380
This one will disappoint many, but personally it comes as little surprise. Come 15 May 2023, the SQ26/25 rotation will switch from the A380 to a 777-300ER. With loads of premium capacity through the two daily nonstops to JFK and Newark, the continued presence of the A380 was probably a little overkill for the New York market. The FRA-JFK vv legs usually weren’t full, it certainly wasn’t in my experience pre-pandemic. The SQ26/25 rotation takes around 2.5 A380s to operate daily, so SIA clearly felt the A380s could be better utilised elsewhere, namely Australia. This isn’t the first time JFK has been served by the 777-300ER, it took over for a short time following the retirement of the 747, as well as the period between the resumption of SQ26/25 and the return of A380 operations.
Returning to Busan
From 2 June 2023, SIA will also reinstate flights to Busan (PUS). These will operate four times weekly, using a 737-8 aka a 737-8 MAX. Prior to the pandemic, SIA had taken over SilkAir’s operations on the route, using a A330-300, which have now all been retired. While the move had been touted as a sign of strong performance of the route, I’ve always been a little skeptical of that claim. Due to the MAX grounding, SilkAir had been forced to deploy the 737-800NG, which was weight restricted out of Busan due to the terrain around Gimhae International Airport. At times, SilkAir was forced to block off 20-30 seats due to the performance restrictions. With the MAX deployed as had been intended from the initial route launch, I would not expect to see any weight restrictions.
The Busan flight will operate with the following schedule:
| Flight No. | Direction | Dep Time | Arr Time | Days of Operation |
| SQ616 | Singapore to Busan | 2315 | 0630 +1 day | Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat |
| SQ615 | Busan to Singapore | 0750 | 1305 | Tue, Thu, Sat, Sun |
The flight into Busan is typical for the North Asia and ideal for starting a holiday. However, the early morning return sounds pretty brutal. A good option might be to fly into Busan and end off in Seoul, with more flight options out of Incheon.
Passengers flying the 737-8 to Busan in Business Class can look forward to the flat-bed seats installed on the 737-8. I flew this product on a short flight to Phuket earlier this year, and while they’re not groundbreaking, they should do the job on the overnight flight to Busan. Economy isn’t too bad either, with the 737-8 featuring seatback IFE and in-seat power in Economy class as well. The 737-8 are also equipped with inflight WiFi.
The Busan flights don’t seem bookable yet, so hard to say what redemption availability will be like. When the flight does become available for sale, a one-way Business Saver award will cost 52,000 Krisflyer miles, while an Economy Saver will be 27,000 Krisflyer miles. One-way Advantage awards will be 70,000 for Business and 45,000 for Economy.
Personally I’m a little tempted to give this route a try. I’ve never been to Pusan and I’d love to give the 737-8 Business class seat a try on a longer flight. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for redemption availability on this route.
Other Frequency Changes
Besides these more noteworthy adjustments, SIA is also adjusting frequencies elsewhere. Most involve a ramping up of frequencies, but there are a few reductions as well.
Seoul
From 1 June 2023, Seoul gets a fourth daily flight, SQ612/611. This brings Seoul back to its full pre-pandemic schedule. This service will utilise a 787-10.
| Flight No. | Direction | Dep Time | Arr Time | Days of Operation | Aircraft |
| SQ612 | Singapore to Seoul | 0225 | 0950 | Daily | 787-10 |
| SQ611 | Seoul to Singapore | 1120 | 1650 | Daily | 787-10 |
Osaka
The daily SQ618/619 rotation, which only recently resumed on 30 Oct 2022, will drop down to four-weekly at the start of the Northern Summer 2023 (NS23) schedule on 26 March 2023. This will eventually revert to daily on 1 May 2023. It will continue to be operated by a 787-10.
Personally I’m surprised to see this reduction, I would have thought there would be strong demand during the Cherry Blossom season in late-Mar and early April. But hey, what do I know, after all there’s a reason I’m an ex–airline employee.
From 26 Mar 2023 to 30 April 2023:
| Flight No. | Direction | Dep Time | Arr Time | Days of Operation | Aircraft |
| SQ618 | Singapore to Osaka | 0125 | 0850 | Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun | 787-10 |
| SQ619 | Osaka to Singapore | 1055 | 1640 | Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun | 787-10 |
From 1 May 2023 onwards to end of NS23 schedule:
| Flight No. | Direction | Dep Time | Arr Time | Days of Operation | Aircraft |
| SQ618 | Singapore to Osaka | 0125 | 0850 | Daily | 787-10 |
| SQ619 | Osaka to Singapore | 1055 | 1640 | Daily | 787-10 |
Hong Kong
From 26 March 2023, SIA will operate SQ89/893 daily between Singapore and Hong Kong, using the A380. This is currently scheduled to the end of NS23. From 1 October 2023, SIA will also reinstate SQ896 and SQ897 daily. SQ896/897 will be operated by a medium-haul A350 (the SH* series). I find the choice of SQ896/897 rather interesting, since SQ897 doesn’t really allow for many quick onward connections from SIN, with an overnight likely required in many cases. SIA must be banking on decent traffic between Singapore and Hong Kong.
SQ892/893 schedule from 26 March 2023:
| Flight No. | Direction | Dep Time | Arr Time | Days of Operation | Aircraft |
| SQ892 | Singapore to Hong Kong | 0940 | 1355 | Daily | A380 |
| SQ893 | Hong Kong to Singapore | 1540 | 1935 | Daily | A380 |
SQ896/897 schedule from 1 October 2023:
| Flight No. | Direction | Dep Time | Arr Time | Days of Operation | Aircraft |
| SQ896 | Singapore to Hong Kong | 1430 | 1840 | Daily | A350MH |
| SQ897 | Hong Kong to Singapore | 1955 | 2350 | Daily | A350MH |
Even with the reinstatement of double daily flights from 1 October 2023, SIA’s frequency to HKG will still be far below pre-pandemic levels. Given the continued restrictions in Hong Kong and its political situation, it’s unlikely demand will be anywhere near pre-pandemic levels anytime soon.
Taipei
Taipei is scheduled to return to full pre-pandemic frequency by 31 May 2023. That is the day when both its services will return to daily. SQ876/877, currently four-weekly at time of writing, will ramp up to daily at the start of NS23 on 26 March 2023. SQ878/879, currently three-weekly, will become daily on from 31 May 2023. both services will be operated by 787-10 aircraft.
SQ876/877 schedule:
| Flight No. | Direction | Dep Time | Arr Time | Days of Operation | Aircraft |
| SQ876 | Singapore to Taipei | 0820 | 1310 | Daily | 787-10 |
| SQ877 | Taipei to Singapore | 1420 | 1855 | Daily | 787-10 |
SQ878/879 schedule 26 March 2023 to 28 May 2023:
| Flight No. | Direction | Dep Time | Arr Time | Days of Operation | Aircraft |
| SQ878 | Singapore to Taipei | 1145 | 1640 | Wed, Fri, Sun | 787-10 |
| SQ879 | Taipei to Singapore | 1745 | 2215 | Wed, Fri, Sun | 787-10 |
SQ878/879 schedule from 31 May onwards:
| Flight No. | Direction | Dep Time | Arr Time | Days of Operation | Aircraft |
| SQ878 | Singapore to Taipei | 1145 | 1640 | Daily | 787-10 |
| SQ879 | Taipei to Singapore | 1745 | 2215 | Daily | 787-10 |
Bangkok
Bangkok will get SQ706/705 back from 1 October 2023. I’ll admit I was a little thrown off when I read this in the press release, as I hadn’t realised SQ706/705 had been dropped in the Northern Winter ’23 (Oct 2022 to Mar 2023) schedule. With the reinstatement of this flight pair, Bangkok will return to five times daily from 1 October 2023. It will be operated by an A350 Medium Haul.
| Flight No. | Direction | Dep Time | Arr Time | Days of Operation | Aircraft |
| SQ706 | Singapore to Bangkok | 0710 | 0835 | Daily | A350MH |
| SQ705 | Bangkok to Singapore | 0940 | 1305 | Daily | A350MH |
Phuket
This was another one that threw me off. In fact, I’m still not entirely sure why it’s mentioned in SIA’s press release. For what it’s worth, SQ726/725 will operate a fourth daily service between Singapore and Phuket from 26 March 2023. I’m confused though, because it’s currently operating daily, and is scheduled to remain the case throughout NW23. So it’s just continuing into NS23?
It will be operated by a 737-800NG. That means recliners in Business, and no seatback IFE in both Business and Economy. No inflight WiFi for anyone either. There’s streaming IFE, but it’s a poor substitute.
| Flight No. | Direction | Dep Time | Arr Time | Days of Operation | Aircraft |
| SQ726 | Singapore to Phuket | 0830 | 0935 | Daily | 737-800NG |
| SQ725 | Phuket to Singapore | 1015 | 1305 | Daily | 737-800NG |
Los Angeles
Los Angeles gets a reduction in services. SQ36/35 will revert to thrice-weekly from 26 March 2023. It’s only going daily from 1 Dec 2022 before this reduction back to thrice-weekly for the start of NS23. It’s operated by a long-haul A350 (SM* and SJ* series. These are the 3-class configured A350s with 42J/24S/187Y.
Los Angeles will continue to served by the nonstop SQ38/37 rotation, and of course the SQ12/11 routing via Tokyo-Narita.
| Flight No. | Direction | Dep Time | Arr Time | Days of Operation | Aircraft |
| SQ36 | Singapore to Los Angeles | 1840 | 1935 | Wed, Fri, Sun | A350 |
| SQ35 | Los Angeles to Singapore | 2120 | 0530 +2 days | Wed, Fri, Sun | A350 |
Manchester and Houston
As with LAX, Houston will also suffer a slight reduction in frequency. SQ52/51 will reduce from four-weekly to thrice-weekly from 28 March 2023.
| Flight No. | Direction | Dep Time | Arr Time | Days of Operation | Aircraft |
| SQ52 | Singapore to Manchester | 0225 | 0910 | Tue, Wed, Fri | A350 |
| SQ52 | Manchester to Houston | 1040 | 1430 | Tue, Wed, Fri | A350 |
| SQ51 | Houston to Manchester | 1910 | 1005 +1 day | Tue, Wed, Fri | A350 |
| SQ51 | Manchester to Singapore | 1140 | 0740 +1 days | Wed, Thu, Sat | A350 |
While Houston gets one less flight per week, Manchester will pick up a couple of standalone, terminating flights. These will use new flight numbers, SQ302 and SQ301. As with the Houston flights, these will be operated by the 3-class long haul A350. These twice-weekly service will commence on 2 April 2023.
| Flight No. | Direction | Dep Time | Arr Time | Days of Operation | Aircraft |
| SQ302 | Singapore to Manchester | 0225 | 0910 | Mon, Sun | A350 |
| SQ301 | Manchester to Singapore | 1140 | 0740 +1 days | Mon, Sun | A350 |
Seattle
Finally, Seattle will also be losing one of its services per week. SQ28/27 will reduce to thrice-weekly instead of four-weekly from 27 June 2023. Seattle services continue to be operated by the 3-class long haul A350.
| Flight No. | Direction | Dep Time | Arr Time | Days of Operation | Aircraft |
| SQ28 | Singapore to Seattle | 0900 | 0845 | Tue, Thu, Sat | A350 |
| SQ27 | Seattle to Singapore | 1020 | 1730 +1 day | Tue, Thu, Sat | A350 |
Conclusion
Quite a lot of changes to unpack, with Australia routes arguably the big winners, and North America losing out. Australia gets two more A380 services, one each for Melbourne and Sydney, while JFK loses the A380 and other frequency reductions throughout the USA. Services to East Asia continue to ramp up back to pre-pandemic levels as well. It’s nice to see Busan back as well, I thought it’d go the way of Hiroshima, Wellington and Dusseldorf which were all dropped during the pandemic.
Overall, mostly positive changes with capacity increases in many markets. Of course, if you’ve got a Suites booking for 15 May 2023 onwards on SQ26/25, you’d be pretty upset right now….