The three-times a week service will bypass Frankfurt for the first time since the 1990s.

Singapore Airlines has announced the resumption of its Singapore-New York service, this time round with a non-stop service to New York’s John F. Kennedy (JFK) international airport.

The non-stop flights to New York will restart from 9 Nov 2020 operating three times a week, using the 3-class variant of its Airbus A350 aircraft. This will be the airline’s second US destination after Los Angeles since the network reduction due to Covid-19.

For the record, SIA used to serve two airports in the Greater New York area just before Covid-19 struck: a daily service to JFK via Frankfurt, and a second non-stop service to Newark Liberty Airport (EWR).

The schedule

Singapore Airlines has picked new flight numbers – SQ24 and SQ23 – for this service.

Fun Fact:
SQ23/24 was the same flight numbers SIA used to operate Singapore-Amsterdam-Newark back in the 1990s up to early 2000s. The flights were operated using the Boeing 747s.

The outbound flight from Singapore, SQ24, will operate three times weekly, departing Singapore early morning on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, arriving into JFK at 7.30am the same morning.

Return flight SQ23 will depart from JFK at night on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, arriving into Singapore at about 6am, albeit two days later.

Full schedule below:

Sector	Flight No.	Days of ops	Dep	Arr	Flight time	Aircraft
Singapore – New York JFK	SQ24	Mon, Wed, Sat	0225	0730	18h 5m	A350-900
New York JFK – Singapore	SQ23	Mon, Wed, Fri	2230	0610(+2)	18h 40m	A350-900

In its media statement, SIA said that choosing JFK over Newark for the service will allow it to “allow Singapore Airlines to better accommodate a mix of passenger and cargo traffic on its services to New York in the current operating climate“, while also tapping on transfer traffic through Changi.

“Operating these flights between Singapore and New York’s JFK International Airport represent an important step in the rebuilding of our global network. Non-stop ultra-long services are the bedrock of our services to the key U.S. market. We will continue to ramp up existing services and reinstate other points as the demand for both passenger and cargo services return.”

Mr. Lee Lik Hsin, Executive Vice President Commercial for Singapore Airlines

Final thoughts

With the recommencement of the Singapore-New York service, Singapore Airlines will take the honour of operating the world’s longest service again, at over 18 hours.

Unsurprisingly, SIA is using its regular 253-seat 3-class long-haul Airbus A350 aircraft to operate this route. For the time being, this would suffice, given the incredibly low passenger load and with the focus on cargo shipment.

This new service, however, will help offer Singaporeans or Americans wishing to go home a direct service from the East Coast, without having to navigate through the complexities of transit arrangements at a third airport amidst Covid-19 restrictions.