Low-cost carrier Scoot will serve a total of 20 cities in 8 countries & territories from Singapore over the next two months, it said in an update today (24 September).
The SIA Group’s budget subsidiary will be operating between 170 to 180 flights over the next two months, its largest network since April when there were only two destinations.
Having said that, some of the 20 destinations will continue to be served only sparingly, either by a weekly service, or less frequently.
Destinations
The two new destinations commencing October are Semarang in Indonesia and Tianjin in China. Semarang was originally served by Silkair before services were suspended, and was scheduled to start in July as part of the transition from Silkair to Scoot.
While these are new destinations, they aren’t much of an addition: Semarang will only see a single service in October (with none in November), while Tianjin will see only three return services over the next two months.
Singapore Airlines has announced that it will cancelling four destinations permanently as it continue to assess its network for the future, as part of its monthly operational update.
Singapore Airlines
The four cities are: Canberra, Dusseldorf, Stockholm and Wellington. The decision was taken as the Singapore national carrier prepares for “a very different aviation landscape”, even after the Covid-19 pandemic pass.
The update comes shortly after the airline said it was retrenching up to 2,400 staff across the business, with the SIA group forced to downsize its manpower and fleet.
Singapore Airlines will suspend services to Canberra, Dusseldorf, Stockholm and Wellington as part of a review of its network due to the Covid-19 pandemic. These stations will be closed as a result of this decision.
As a result, these destinations are no longer available in the Singapore Airlines’ booking engines. Customers who have a ticket for these destinations will be offered a refund or alternatives arrangements.
Three tag-ons, one end destination axed
Of the four destinations to be dropped, Canberra and Wellington both operated as a ‘tag-on’, which means that they were operated as a one-stop service via a intermediate destination.
Canberra and Wellington were both introduced to SIA’s network back in 2016, in a much publicised ‘Capital Express’, connecting Singapore to both Australia’s and New Zealand’s capitals.
This route also received much fanfare because the flight became Canberra Airport’s first international service, as well as Wellington Airport’s first regularly scheduled widebody aircraft to serve the airport.
The two destinations were later modified in 2018, where Canberra became part of the Singapore-Sydney-Canberra-Singapore triangular route, while Wellington was served via Melbourne.
The other two destinations, Dusseldorf and Stockholm, were also introduced only in recent years. Dusseldorf joined SIA’s network in 2016, and Stockholm in 2017. Both services never became a daily service, a sign that filling up seats were difficult to begin with.
Final thoughts
With a reduced workforce and signs pointing towards a reduced fleet, it’s almost certain that SIA will trim its network for the near future, as with many other airlines.
As it is, the airline is almost certain to remove all of its A330 and the older Boeing 777s, including the 200 and the 300 (non-ERs), from its fleet and rely mainly on its 787s and A350s as the main workhorses.
My view is that this is definitely not the end of the network rationalisation exercise. With a significant cut to the operational workforce and the fleet, SIA will have to make further adjustments, including frequency reduction and smaller network.
After all, these first cuts represent a very small percentage of SIA’s pre-Covid-19 capacity, so this only means that more destinations will be lost over the next couple of months. There are many other new destinations within the Group, including Busan, Hiroshima, Seattle, as well as cities with two airports such as Tokyo and New York, all of which will certainly be at risk of being axed.
With Silkair being folded into the mainline from 2021, some of the destinations previously served by SIA may also be taken over by the Boeing 737s, with other Silkair destinations being dropped.
Fairmont Singapore is easily one of Singapore’s most popular hotel, mostly owing to its prime location in the heart of the city, as well as being the adjacent property to Singapore’s tallest hotel, Swissotel the Stamford.
Despite being rather familiar with the property, I have not done a stay at this hotel in a long while, so I thought I’ll give it a bit of my money for a weekend stay.
Built as part of Singapore’s iconic Raffles City in the 1980s, the hotel opened as Westin Plaza. The hotel was rebranded as Raffles the Plaza in 2002 when Raffles International Group took over the management of the hotel. In 2007, the hotel underwent another name change to Fairmont Singapore.
As an upscale hotel, Fairmont Singapore boast of over 770 rooms in two towers – North and South Tower – starting from 45 square metres to two Presidential Suites spanning 190 square metres.
At the time of my stay, the hotel was partly used for Singapore government’s quarantine facility for Stay-Home Notices (SHNs), with the South Tower exclusively used for SHN.
As such, Fairmont Singapore is not offering any Fairmont Gold rooms at the moment, as the Fairmont Gold lounge is located on the South Tower. Unfortunately, all the newer suites are also all located in the South Tower, hence unavailable for reservations.
The North Tower comprises 373 rooms with only two room types: the Fairmont Rooms and the Signature King suite. One thing to note as well, the North Tower has not been renovated since 2014 while the South Tower was most recently refurbished in 2019. As such, guests who have previously stayed in the South Tower in recent months will most likely notice the difference in the rooms across both towers.
Fairmont has developed a set of service measures to ensure guests’ wellness and safety during their stay, including ensuring safe distancing and using contactless options where possible.
These are pretty basic measures, but we will talk more about other specific measures that the hotel has taken during our stay.
Pre-arrival check-in
The check-in process begins before you even step into the hotel – 48 hours before, to be exact.
About two days before my arrival, Fairmont sent a pre-arrival online check-in form. Apart from filling in personal particulars, I had to also submit images of IDs of all guests, as well as make an online deposit of the room charges via credit card, so make sure you have all of those ready before completing the form.
While completing the online check-in form, the hotel may also prompt you for paid upgrades, such as this one:
Some may be of good value, so be sure to check them out. For my stay, I was offered an upgrade to Signature King Suite at S$94.16 nett, which was of good value given that my original room booking was under S$150, bring the total to less than S$250 for a suite.
However, I wasn’t planning to spend too much time in a huge room by myself, so I passed on the upgrade.
Upon completing the check-in, you will receive a QR code via email, which you will use upon arrival at the hotel.
Email confirmation of pre-arrival registration
The actual check-in
For those who prefer to check-in the old school at the hotel, that is still possible so fret not if you do not wish to do a pre-arrival online check-in.
At the hotel, check-in was a breeze. I arrived at the hotel at about 11am, hoping that they would afford me an early check-in.
The hotel lobby was demarcated into two zones: The general lobby and free access to the North Tower, and a cordoned-off walkway from the driveway to the South Tower, which is current used as government quarantine facility for Stay-Home Notices.
Cordoned off walkway from entrance to the South Tower (on the right) for guests on Stay-Home Notices
After doing the necessary SafeEntry at the door, I found myself in an empty lobby, so I walked straight up to a counter where I was attended to immediately. What was a nice touch was also a hand sanitiser available at every counter, for a peace of mind.
ALL Priority Welcome counter, with a hand sanitiser pump
The front desk agent asked for my QR code, and I scanned it using my phone. She pulled out my registration details, went to retrieve a phyiscal folder with my keys and details of my stay, and promptly walked me through my stay.
As an ALL Gold member, I also had two welcome drinks, which I could use at Prego, Eight (the poolside bar) or for the first time, as part of in-room dining.
Because I have done the deposit and ID documentation online before arriving, I didn’t have to take out my wallet at all during the time I was at the front desk. In less than five minutes, I took my keys and was on my way to my room.
One key thing to note: the hotel will no longer provide room make-up service every day. So if you are staying for more than a night and require your room to be serviced, you need to call up the front desk and request for it.
The room
For my stay this time, I was booked into a Fairmont King room. Unfortunately there was no free upgrades into a suite, but I was given a room on the 24th floor in the North Tower, which offers a pretty good view towards the Marina Bay and the swimming pool.
Fairmont King roomRoom view of the swimming pool
The Fairmont King room is a 45 square metres room, which is the entry level room at Fairmont Singapore.
At 45 square metres, it’s larger than most other entry-level hotel rooms across Singapore, so that means that there’s ample space for everything in the room.
King bed
An oversized bed takes centrestage in the room, along with a full size couch by the side of the bed. At the foot of the bed was also a bench, good for hosting friends (remember you can only have a maximum of five people in the room) or simply storing your stuff.
The couch next to the bed was incredibly comfortable, and I spent a good amount of time lounging there with a coffee in hand while reading my book.
Window-side couch
Across the bed was a large stand, with a flat-screen TV. There is also a generous work desk, making it perfect for those who need to work within the room.
Flat screen TV and work desk
The room also comes with a balcony, a feature of all Fairmont rooms. This is good for guests who smoke, given that smoking is permitted only on the balconies.
As part of the welcome amenities, Fairmont has prepared a care kit, consisting of a pack of masks, hand sanitiser and antiseptic wet wipes.
Fairmont hotel care kit
To my surprise, Fairmont has also provided a fruit basket, a birthday cake and a handwritten card. It was my birthday month, and this was definitely a very pleasant surprise.
Birthday cake and card
The room also comes with a Nespresso machine, along with three coffee capsules, although you can always request for more. Fairmont also serves TWG teabags in the room for those who prefer tea to coffee.
Nespresso machine in every room
The bathroom is also fairly spacious and has been refreshed in recent years. There is no longer a bathtub in the bathroom, but instead replaced with a standing rain-shower, with a marble slab as a seat for those who prefer to bathe seated.
Bathroom
Fairmont Singapore is currently using Le Labo amenities, presented in small bottles within the bathroom. Le Labo is better known for their fragrances, given that they are a New York-based perfume house. I’m not a big fan of their amenities, and they don’t quite lather up as easily as other amenities I’ve used before. Plus, the rose scent wasn’t particularly attractive to me.
Le Labo amenities
With the pandemic still in the midst of us, Fairmont has also made several changes to the experience within the room.
First up, Fairmont has done away with all the in-room printed matter, including magazines and the information compendium, effectively converting all communication materials digital using the TV. While this is a necessity during this pandemic, this also means that the writing material has also been removed and has to be requested for.
Removal of all in-room literature
The only printed material in the room was a card-stand with a QR code for in-room dining menu. For those who prefer, you can also navigate the menu via the TV screen using the remote control.
The mini-bar is also emptied out, which is a plus point given that Fairmont uses an automatic charge system for its mini-bar, where any item taken from the mini-bar will be charged to the room bill immediately. An empty mini-bar will mean more chilling space for your own drinks.
Empty mini-bar
The hotel also offers complimentary premium wifi for all guests. When I tested the speed in the room, it was at a decent 20mbps for both up and downloads.
The facilities
As part of the government’s required safe distancing measures, Fairmont has also placed capacity limits on all it’s recreational facilities, including the fitness centre, swimming pool and the Willow Stream spa.
The gym can take up to a maximum of 15 guests, with reservation mandatory. Guests can book their slots before or during their stay using the booking link provided in the pre-arrival email, or simply call up the spa directly for bookings.
For both the fitness centre and swimming pool, each room is only entitled to make one booking per day, up to a maximum of two guests for the fitness centre and four for the pool. However, if you are doing only a one-night stay, you can actually make bookings for both days (the day you check in, and the day you leave).
The gym is opened from 7am to 9pm daily, with slots of 2.5 hours available for booking. The five time-slots are: 7am, 9.45am, 12.30pm, 3.15pm and 6.15pm. You do not have to start at the allotted start time, but you will definitely have to vacate the premises by the end of your booked slot.
To book the spa facilities, you will first have to make a booking for a gym slot and then call up the spa to let them know, so they can reserve a spot for you.
While the spa facilities are still operating, Willow Stream is severely limited the usage of the facilities. In the male changing room for instance, each spa pool can only hold one person, while only one person can use the steam room and the sauna at a time. With four pools and two rooms, that means that only a maximum of six people can use the facilities at any point in time.
Fairmont swimming pool
As for the swimming pool, there are 6 slots of two hours each, starting from 7am. For the pool you can book for up to four people per slot, but again every room is entitled to only one slot per day of their stay.
When I was there over the weekend, I was unable to get a slot for the pool at all during my stay on both days. Note that the pool facilities are originally shared between both Fairmont and Swissotel, so once Swissotel starts accepting guests for staycations, getting a slot will be even more challenging.
Welcome drink
As I mentioned earlier, Accor ALL silver members and above are given a welcome drink during their stay. At Fairmont, this benefit can be taken either at Anti:dote, or through the in-room service.
I opted to collect my welcome drink in my room and the ordering option was simple. You simply call up room service, inform them that you will like to use your welcome drink, and they will tell you the options you have.
We opted for a glass of cabernet sauvignon, as well as a mojito (yes, cocktails are available too!). The only downside was that the drinks took quite a bit of time to arrive.
Welcome drinks in the room
Dining options
Guests familiar with Fairmont and Swissotel the Stamford will know that both hotels boast a huge repertoire of food and beverage outlets. However, due to Covid-19, only some of these restaurants are bars are opened.
At the time of writing (September 2020), only the following restaurants are opened:
Swissotel the Stamford
JAAN by KirkWestaway
Open Tuesdays to Saturdays Lunch: 11.30am to 2.30pm (except Tues) Dinner: 6pm to 10.30pm (*Note: AccorPlus benefits don’t apply here)
SKAI
Open daily Lunch: 11.30pm to 2.30pm High tea: 3pm to 5pm Dinner: 5pm to 10.30pm
Clove
Open Fridays to Sundays, 12pm to 10.30pm
Kopi Tiam
Closed
TWG Tea Salon & Boutique
Opened daily, 10am to 10pm (*Note: AccorPlus benefits don’t apply here)
Bar Rogue
Closed
Stamford The Brasserie
Closed
Fairmont Singapore
Prego
Open daily for breakfast and all-day dining until 10.30pm
Mikuni
Open daily except Wednesdays & Sundays Lunch: 12pm to 2.30pm Dinner: 6pm to 10.30pm
Asian Market Cafe
Open daily Lunch: 12pm to 2.30pm (until 4pm on weekends) Dinner: 6pm to 10pm
Szechuan Court
Closed
Anti:dote
Open daily Lunch: 12pm to 2.30pm High tea: 3pm to 5pm Dinner: 5pm to 10.30pm
Brunch in the Skai
As I was staying over the weekend for a celebration, I went over to SKAI for their Brunch in the Skai, which is their signature champagne brunch available every Saturday from 12pm to 3pm.
SKAI
Priced at $158++, the post Circuit Breaker crowd came back with a vengeance: I had to make my reservation more than a month in advance to get a table. And even with the reservation, you could not choose a window table, seating was allocated by SKAI.
Brunch in the Skai champagne brunch, $158++ per pax
For three hours, you get free flow of Taittinger champagne, house wines, select cocktails and all you can eat from the menu below:
The charcuterie board, seafood on ice and cheeses used to be served buffet style, but with the safe management measurements imposed by the government, these items have now been converted to a table service.
While the selection of items doesn’t seem extensive, the quality of the items are excellent, and well worth the price tag even on its own. The desserts were also surprisingly good, I was almost tempted to ask for a second serving even though I was stuffed and buzzed by the end of the session.
Brunch in the Skai – selection of food items
Note that if you are an Accor Plus member, the price of the champagne brunch is broken down into two elements: S$88++ for the food component, S$70++ for the beverage component. This means that the appropriate discount for the food bill (50% for two people, 33% for three etc) will only be applied to the food component, while a flat 15% discount is given for the beverage component.
Pro-tip: One beauty of Swissotel the Stamford and Fairmont Singapore is the ability to cross-sign restaurant bills to your room from any restaurant within these two hotels, regardless of which hotel you were staying with. You can still present your Accor Plus card for the dining benefit, and then the dining bill will added to your room bill which will give you ALL points at the end of your stay.
By contrast, settling the dining bill at the restaurant itself will not give you any Accor ALL points.
Breakfast at Prego
My room didn’t come with complimentary breakfast, but I could still walk into Prego for breakfast if I wanted to.
Since June, hotels that have reopened for staycations have been offering a la carte breakfasts, as opposed to a buffet that was previously the norm.
Similarly, Prego also offers an a la carte menu, with AccorPlus benefits available if you are dining in a group (i.e. up to 50% off). Note that if you are dining alone, a standard 15% discount will apply.
Final thoughts
I got the room at a pretty good rate so I’m not complaining. While the rooms in the North Tower definitely pales in comparison to those in the South Tower which were just recently refurbished in 2019, it was still a very pleasant stay.
The room was comfortably sized, with enough space to lounge around even within the room. I personally loved that couch by the side of the balcony, which I spent a considerable amount of time on reading with a cup of tea.
The hotel was also highly flexible when it came to check-in and check-out timings. I got the room at 11am, while the front desk was kind enough to extend my check-out time till 2pm, giving me a solid 27 hours for my stay. This was unlike my stay at Mandarin Orchard, which offered a 12pm check-out as a ‘courtesy extension’. Having said that, your mileage may vary – it really depends on the occupancy for the next day.
I also personally liked the fact that only one tower was available for staycation guests while the rest of both Fairmont and Swissotel the Stamford were used for Stay-Home Notice guests. This means a significantly lower demand for both the fitness centre and the swimming pool, making bookings for a slot at these facilities much easier. When the hotels start opening up the rest of their rooms for staycation guests, the demand may shoot up and you may find yourself being unable to book any of these recreational facilities, so always call up the hotel to check in advance.
Despite the Fairmont Gold lounge being unavailable, the stay overall was very pleasant. Armed with a wide array of very good restaurants within walking distance, as well as a shopping mall at the feet of the hotel, you will probably be pretty well occupied during your stay.
At least five cities: Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Sydney and London get daily services from November.
Singapore Airlines and Silkair has published their schedules up to November, with a published schedule to a total of 34 cities across 23 countries/territories.
This is the furthest horizon the airline has published its post-coronavirus schedules, as it has previously updated its reduced schedules only about four weeks in advance.
There is only one new route – Surabaya – published up to November, with Singapore Airlines and Silkair serving a total of 34 destinations. Overall, the two airlines are flying at about 11% of its pre-Covid-19 capacity.
Between Singapore Airlines and Silkair, the two carriers will operate about 1,000 flights in November.
Key changes
Some of the key changes include:
Southeast Asia
Jakarta services will maintain daily services in October, but will increase from 7 times to 10 times weekly in November.
SIA will mount a twice-weekly service to Surabaya, using the B777-300 aircraft and later A330-300.
Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi remains one way services to Singapore in October.
North Asia
Seoul will be served five times weekly, up from three.
Southwest Pacific
Brisbane gets a non-stop service in November, flying direct twice a week. This is on top of the one-stop service via Sydney.
Melbourne to Singapore resumes with only a weekly service in October, while there are no flights available for booking from Singapore to Melbourne. SIA is tentatively planning for a 7 times a week service in November in both directions.
Auckland services begins a fifth weekly service in November, up from four.
Services to Christchurch will increase to thrice weekly in October.
Europe
Services to London (Heathrow) will increase to 9 times a week in September and then 12 times a week from October.
Singapore Airlines schedule
The full schedules for Singapore Airlines for October & November are as follow:
26, 27 & 31 Oct (From 2 Nov) Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Sat
1610
2120
8h 10m
A350-900
Sydney – Singapore (via Brisbane)
SQ288
Fri, Sun
2025^
0500(+1)
10h 35m (incl. 1 stop)
A350- 900
Singapore – Auckland
SQ283
Mon (Until 24 Oct)
2355
1330(+1)@
9h 35m
A350-900
SQ283
(From 31 Oct) Mon
2355
1450
9h 55m
A350-900
SQ281
Wed, Fri (Until 23 Oct)
0845
2220@
9h 35m
A350-900
SQ281
(From 28 Oct) Wed, Fri
0845
2335
9h 50m
A350-900
SQ285
Sun (Until 18 Oct)
1840
0815(+1)@
9h 35m
A350-900
SQ285
25 Oct & (From 1 Nov) Mon, Sun
1840
0935(+1)
9h 55h
A350-900
Auckland – Singapore
SQ282
Wednesdays: 7, 14, 21 Sep
2320
0610(+1)
10h 50m
A350-900
SQ282
Thursdays: 29 Sep; 6, 13, 20 Oct
0020
0610(+1)
10h 50m
A350-900
SQ282
(From 27 Oct) Tue
0120
0645
10h 25m
A350-900
SQ286
Tue, Thu, Sat (Until 24 Oct)
1410#
2100
10h 50m
A350-900
SQ286
27, 29, 31 Oct & (From 3 Nov) Tue, Wed, Thu, Sat
1515
2055
10h 40m
A350-900
Singapore – Christchurch
SQ297
(From 6 to 27 Sep) Thu, Sun (From 1 to 22 Oct) Tue, Thu, Sun
2300
1240(+1)*
9h 40m
A350-900
(From 25 Oct) Tue, Thu, Sun
2300
1350(+1)
9h 50m
A350-900
Christchurch – Singapore
SQ298
(From 8 to 29 Sep) Tue, Sat (From 3 to 24 oct) Tue, Thu, Sat
1050#
1740
10h 50m
A350-900
SQ298
(From 27 Oct) Tue, Thu, Sat
1200
1740
10h 40m
A350-900
*Daylight savings start 4 Oct in South Australia (Adelaide) & New South Wales (Sydney), flights will depart Singapore at the same time, but arrive one hour later in Adelaide/Sydney local time.
^Daylight savings start 4 Oct in South Australia (Adelaide) & New South Wales (Sydney), flights will depart Adelaide/Sydney one hour later, but arrive in Singapore at the same time local time.
@Daylight savings start 27 Sep in New Zealand, flights will depart Singapore at the same time, but arrive one hour later in New Zealand local time.
#Daylight savings start 27 Sep in New Zealand, flights will depart New Zealand one hour later but arrive in Singapore at the same time local time.
Europe
Sector
Flight no.
Days operating
Dep
Arr
Duration
Aircraft
Singapore – London
SQ322
Daily (Until 23 Oct)
2330
0555(+1)
13h 25m
A350-900
SQ322
(From 24 Oct) Daily
2345
0555(+1)
13h 10m
A350-900
SQ308
(From 9 to 30 Sep) Wed, Fri (From 2 to 24 Oct) Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat
0900
1540
13h 40m
A350-900
SQ308
(From 26 Oct) Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat
0900
1520
13h 20m
A350-900
London – Singapore
SQ317
Daily (Until 24 Oct)
1125
0730(+1)
13h 5m
A350-900
SQ317
(From 25 Oct) Daily
1055
0750(+1)
12h 55m
A350-900
SQ319
(From 9 to 30 Sep) Wed, Fri (From 2 to 24 Oct) Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat
2050
1655(+1)
13h 5m
A350-900
SQ319
(From 26 Oct) Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat
2035
1730(+1)
12h 55m
A350-900
Singapore – Frankfurt
SQ26
Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun (Until 24 Oct)
2355
0645(+1)
12h 50m
A350-900
SQ26
(From 25 Oct) Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun
2355
0620(+1)
13h 25m
A350-900
Frankfurt – Singapore
SQ25
Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun (Until 24 Oct)
1230
0650(+1)
12h 20m
A350-900
SQ25
(From 25 Oct) Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun
1140
0650(+1)
12h 10m
A350-900
Singapore – Zurich
SQ346
Wed, Fri, Sun (Until 23 Oct)
0125
0815
12h 50m
A350-900
SQ346
(From 25 Oct) Wed, Fri, Sun
0130
0750
13h 20m
A350-900
Zurich – Singapore
SQ345
Mon, Thu, Sat (Until 24 Oct)
1145
0555(+1)
12h 10m
A350-900
SQ345
(From 26 Oct) Mon, Thu, Sat
1035
0600(+1)
12h 25m
A350-900
Singapore – Amsterdam
SQ324
Tue, Thu, Sat (Until 24 Oct)
2355
0715(+1) 24 Oct: 0615(+1)
13h 20m
A350-900
SQ324
(From 27 Oct) Tue, Thu, Sat
2355
0645(+1)
13h 50m
A350-900
Amsterdam – Singapore
SQ323
Mon, Thu, Sat (Until 24 Oct)
1115
0555(+1)
12h 40m
A350-900
SQ323
(From 26 Oct) Mon, Thu, Sat
1025
0555(+1)
12h 30m
A350-900
Singapore – Milan -Barcelona
SQ378
Thu (Until 22 Oct)
2230
0745(+1)
15h 15m
A350-900
SQ378
(From 29 Oct) Thu
2300
0745(+1)
14h 45m
A350-900
Barcelona – Milan – Singapore
SQ377
Sat (Until 24 Oct)
1040
0730(+1)
14h 50m
A350-900
SQ377
(From 31 Oct) Sat
1040
0825(+1)
14h 45m
A350-900
Singapore – Copenhagen
SQ352
Thu (Until 22 Oct)
2350
0625(+1)
12h 50m
A350-900
SQ352
(From 30 Oct) Fri
0030
0635(+1)
13h 5m
A350-900
Cophenhagen – Singapore
SQ351
Sat (Until 24 Oct)
1220
0620(+1)
12h
A350-900
SQ351
(From 31 Oct) Sat
1230
0730(+1)
12h
A350-900
Singapore – Paris
SQ336
Wed, Fri, Sun (Until 23 Oct)
0015
0735
13h 20m
A350-900
SQ336
(From 25 Oct) Wed, Fri, Sun
0015
0715
14h
A350-900
Paris – Singapore
SQ335
Mon, Thu, Sat (Until 24 Oct)
1200
0650(+1)
12h 50m
A350-900
SQ335
(From 26 Oct) Mon, Thu, Sat
1040
0615(+1)
12h35m
A350-900
Singapore – Milan
SQ378
Thu (Until 22 Oct)
2230
0510(+1)
12h 40m
A350-900
SQ378
(From 29 Oct) Thu
2300
0510(+1)
13h 10m
A350-900
Milan – Singapore
SQ377
Sat (Until 24 Oct)
1330
0730(+1)
12h
A350-900
SQ377
(From 31 Oct) Sat
1330
0825(+1)
11h 55m
A350-900
Singapore – Istanbul
SQ392
Wed (Until 21 Oct)
2330
0630(+1)
12h
A350-900
SQ392
(From 28 Oct) Wed
2330
0730(+1)
13h
A350-900
Istanbul – Singapore
SQ391
Fri (Until 23 Oct)
0005
1705(+1)
12h
A350-900
SQ391
(From 30 Oct) Fri
0005
1635(+1)
11h 30m
A350-900
USA
Sector
Flight no.
Days operating
Dep
Arr
Duration
Aircraft
Singapore – Los Angeles
SQ38
Wed, Fri, Sun (Until 23 Oct)
1700
1755
15h 55m
A350-900
SQ38
25, 28 & 30 Oct
1940
1950
16h 40m
A350-900
SQ38
(From 1 Nov) Wed, Fri, Sun
1940
1850
16h 40m
A350-900
Los Angeles – Singapore
SQ37
Mon, Wed, Sat (Until 24 Oct)
0005
0815(+1)
17h 10m
A350-900
SQ37
25, 27 & 30 Oct
2325
0815(+1)
17h 50m
A350-900
SQ37
(From 1 Nov) Tue, Fri, Sun
2225
0815(+1)
17h 50m
A350-900
Silkair schedule
Silkair will be adding new destinations: Phnom Penh and Cebu (finally) in September, on top of its existing services to Chongqing, Kuala Lumpur and Medan.
Sector
Flight no.
Days operating
Dep
Arr
Duration
Aircraft
Singapore – Chongqing
MI972
Mon
0700 0700
1135 1140
4h 35m 4h 40m
B737-800
Chongqing – Singapore
MI971
Mon
1235 1240
1730 1725
4h 55m 4h 45m
B737-800
Singapore – Kuala Lumpur
MI324
Sat, Sun
0830
0930
1h
B737-800
MI324
Tue, Thu
0920
1020
1h
B737-800
Kuala Lumpur – Singapore
MI323
Sat, Sun
1025
1125
1h
B737-800
MI324
Tue, Thu
1110
1210
1h
B737-800
Singapore – Medan
MI234
Tue, Sun
0740
0800
1h 20m
B737-800
MI238
(From 18 Sep) Fri
1900
1920
1h 20m
B737-800
Medan – Singapore
MI233
Tue, Sun
0845
1105
1h 20m
B737-800
MI237
(From 18 Sep) Fri
2005
2220
1h 15m
B737-800
Singapore – Cebu
MI560
Tue, Sun (Until 20 Oct)
1030
1400
3h 30m
B737-800
MI560
(From 25 Oct) Tue, Sun
0925
1320
3h 55m
B737-800
Cebu – Singapore
MI559
Tue, Sun (Until 20 Oct)
1450
1835
3h 45m
B737-800
MI559
(From 25 Oct) Tue, Sun
1425
1830
4h 5m
B737-800
Singapore – Phnom Penh
MI608
Tue, Sun
1635
1730
1h 55m
B737-800
Phnom Penh – Singapore
MI607
Tue, Sun
1825
2125
2h
B737-800
Final thoughts
With schedules inching up above the 10% of pre-crisis levels, the month-on-month increase is encouraging for the industry and for travellers, although a full recovery will probably take a couple of years.
With no signs of any leisure travel market happening among Asia Pacific countries as of now, a faster pick-up of flight frequencies is unlikely in the coming months. We can only hope that green-lane arrangements are announced soon for leisure travel.
With international travel almost impossible right now, hotels and banks are coming together to put together enticing staycation deals for you to have a semblance of a vacation without your passport.
Citi Prestige has updated its staycation offers for cardmembers, offering a complimentary second night stay at three hotels.
Two of the hotels, Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel and The Fullerton Hotel, were already on offer earlier in July, while the latest deal included St Regis.
Details of the offers below:
Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel, S$350 net
Deluxe Room for 2 nights
Daily breakfast for up to two adults and 2 children (below 12 years old) or three adults
Complimentary S$100 net dining credit per room per stay
Early check-in at 11am and late check-out till 2pm (subject to availability)
Complimentary parking
Marriott has imposed a blackout date of 25 to 31 December, so the rate will not apply during that period.
To book this offer, you will have to call the hotel (6831 4555) or drop them an email.
The Fullerton Hotel Singapore, S$490 net
Premier Courtyard Room at S$490 net for 2 nights
Daily breakfast for two adults
Complimentary S$80 net dining credit per stay
To book this offer, click here. Note that if you want to book this rate, you will need to select a minimum of 2 nights during your search. A nightly rate of S$209 (before taxes) will give you the magic S$490 net for 2 nights.
The St. Regis Singapore, S$600 net
Executive Deluxe Room for 2 nights
Epicurean breakfast for two adults
Complimentary S$50 net dining or spa experience credit per room per stay
Only the main cardholder can utilise this promotion. Supplementary cardholders are not eligible.
The reservation must be made using a Citi Prestige credit card.
The cardholder must be present and present the same credit card at check-in, and for full payment upon check out.
The cardholder who booked the stays must be one of the staying guests.
Complimentary night is non-transferable and not valid for stays at another hotel.
Complimentary night must be utilized during the same stay as the purchased nights.
Purchased and complimentary nights must be of the same room types.
For the avoidance of doubt, the complimentary night cannot be combined with another “stay a minimum night and get free night” type of offer run by the hotels directly.
Cardholders are also only entitled to a maximum of one free nightper hotel. In other words, you could book one room each at The Fullerton Hotel, Marriott Tang Plaza, and the St Regis, but you can’t book two nights at a single hotel and get two nights free.
Shanescape 