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Tag: Silkair

  • Singapore Airlines and Silkair increase flights in July 2020

    Singapore Airlines and Silkair increase flights in July 2020

    Slight increase over June’s operations, but still down 94% from last year

    Singapore Airlines and Silkair has updated its July flight schedules, operating to a total of 27 cities across 18 countries/territories. While this is no change from June, there are some favourable developments, including the commencement of transit traffic from select countries.

    Singapore Airlines schedule

    Singapore Airlines has not announced any ‘new’ destinations that it will be serving in July, but some notable observations for July schedules are as follow:

    • Auckland now sees three flights a week, up from two in the month of June
    • Flights to Manila are now possible, albeit only two services in the month of July
    • Scoot has resumed a weekly service to Taipei, and also planned some ad-hoc services to Surabaya towards the end of July

    [Update 8 July] Silkair has removed its earlier planned services to Cebu, while Singapore Airlines will be commencing twice-weekly flights to Paris from 15 July. In addition, passengers will not be accepted on flights from Singapore to Melbourne due to government restrictions, although these flights are still operating.

    The full schedules for Singapore Airlines for July are as follow:

    Southeast Asia

    SectorFlight no.Days operatingDepArrDurationAircraft
    Singapore – Kuala LumpurSQ104Mon, Wed, Fri083009301hA350-900
    Kuala Lumpur – SingaporeSQ105Mon, Wed, Fri102511351h 10mA350-900
    Singapore – BangkokSQ976Mon, Fri, Sun160017252h 25mB787-10
    Bangkok – SingaporeSQ979Mon, Fri, Sun183021552h 25mB787-10
    Singapore – JakartaSQ966Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sun183019201h 50mA350-900
    Jakarta – SingaporeSQ967Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sun201523051h 50mA350-900
    Singapore – ManilaSQ910Tue093013053h 35mA350-900
    Manila – SingaporeSQ917Tue, Fri141517553h 40mA350-900
    Hanoi – SingaporeSQ175Fri123517053h 30mB787-10
    Ho Chi Minh City – SingaporeSQ177Mon, Thu123015302hB787-10

    North Asia

    SectorFlight no.Days operatingDepArrDurationAircraft
    Singapore – SeoulSQ600Wed, Sat080015356h 35mA350-900
    Seoul – SingaporeSQ609Wed, Sat164522006h 15mA350-900
    Singapore – Tokyo NaritaSQ638Thu, Sat, Sun002508307h 5mB787-10
    Tokyo Narita – SingaporeSQ637Thu, Sat, Sun101016207h 10mB787-10
    Singapore – Osaka KansaiSQ622(From 12 Jun) Fri143022106h 40mA350-900
    Osaka KansaiSQ623(From 12 Jun) Fri23250440(+1)6h 15mA350-900
    Singapore – ShanghaiSQ830Mon093015055h 35mB787-10
    Shanghai – SingaporeSQ833Mon165022205h 30mB787-10
    Singapore – Hong KongSQ890(from 10 Jun) Wed, Thu, Sat072511203h 55mB787-10
    Hong Kong – SingaporeSQ891(from 10 Jun) Wed, Thu, Sat122516203h 55mB787-10

    Southwest Pacific

    SectorFlight no.Days operatingDepArrDurationAircraft
    Singapore – AdelaideSQ279Mon23400755(+1)6h 45mA350-900
    Adelaide – SingaporeSQ278Tue091015107h 30mA350-900
    Singapore – Brisbane (via Sydney)SQ288Tue, Fri0935215510h 20m
    (incl. 1 stop)    		A350-900
    Brisbane – SingaporeSQ288Tue, Fri23000500+(1)8hA350-900
    Singapore – MelbourneSQ23720, 27 Jul23550920(+1)7h 25mA350-900
    SQ21717, 24, 31 Jul111020357h 25mA350-900
    Melbourne – SingaporeSQ238Tue23500545(+1)7h 55mA350-900
    SQ218Sat093515257h 50mA350-900
    Singapore – SydneySQ231Mon, Wed, Sun004510257h 40mA350-900
    SQ288Tue, Fri093519157h 40mA350-900
    Sydney -SingaporeSQ232Mon, Tue, Thu121018408h 30mA350-900
    Sydney – Singapore (via Brisbane)SQ288Tue, Fri2025050010h 35m (incl. 1 stop)A350- 900
    Singapore – AucklandSQ285Tue000513409h 35mA350-900
    SQ281Wed, Fri084522209h 35mA350-900
    Auckland – SingaporeSQ282Wed23200610(+1)10h 50mA350-900
    SQ286Thu, Sat1515220510h 50mA350-900
    Singapore – ChristchurchSQ297Sun23001240(+1)9h 40mA350-900
    Christchurch – SingaporeSQ298Tue0900155010h 50mA350-900

    Europe

    SectorFlight no.Days operatingDepArrDurationAircraft
    Singapore – LondonSQ322Tue, Thu, Sat23300555(+1)13h 25mA350-900
    London – SingaporeSQ317Mon, Thu, Sat11250730(+1)13h 5mA350-900
    Singapore – FrankfurtSQ26Tue, Thu, Sat23550645(+1)12h 50mA350-900
    Frankfurt – SingaporeSQ25Mon, Thu, Sat12300650(+1)12h 20mA350-900
    Singapore – ZurichSQ346Wed, Fri, Sun0125081512h 50mA350-900
    Zurich – SingaporeSQ345Mon, Thu, Sat11450555(+1)12h 10mA350-900
    Singapore – AmsterdamSQ324Tue, Sat23550715(+1)13h 20mA350-900
    Amsterdam – SingaporeSQ323Mon, Thu11150555(+1)12h 40mA350-900
    Singapore – BarcelonaSQ388Thu23350655(+1)13h 20mA350-900
    Barcelona – SingaporeSQ387Sat12050700(+1)12h 55mA350-900
    Singapore – CopenhagenSQ352Thu23500625(+1)12h 35mA350-900
    Cophenhagen – SingaporeSQ351Sat12200620(+1)12hA350-900
    (Updated 8 Jul)
    Singapore – Paris    		SQ336(w.e.f 15 Jul)
    Wed, Fri    		0015073513h 20mA350-900
    (Updated 8 Jul)
    Paris Singapore    		SQ335(w.e.f 16 Jul) Thu, Sat12000650(+1)12h 50mA350-900

    USA

    SectorFlight no.Days operatingDepArrDurationAircraft
    Singapore – Los AngelesSQ38Wed, Fri, Sun1940203515h 55mA350-900
    Los Angeles – SingaporeSQ37Mon, Wed, Sat00050815(+1)17h 10mA350-900

    Silkair schedule

    Silkair has retained the same load of flights, serving Chongqing, Kuala Lumpur and Medan.

    [Update 8 July] Flights to Cebu was originally planned, but subsequently cancelled.

    SectorFlight no.Days operatingDepArrDurationAircraft
    Singapore – ChongqingMI972Mon070011354h 35mB737-800
    Chongqing – SingaporeMI971Mon123517304h 55mB737-800
    Singapore – Kuala LumpurMI324Sat, Sun083009301hB737-800
    Kuala Lumpur – SingaporeMI323Sat, Sun102511251hB737-800
    Singapore – MedanMI234Tue, Thu074008001h 20mB737-800
    Medan – SingaporeMI233Tue, Thu084511051h 20mB737-800

    Scoot’s schedule for July

    Scoot has further expanded its operations for July, adding the following cities to its fold:

    • Surabaya
    • Taipei

    While these have been provisionally planned, Scoot has been known to adjust its schedules at the very last minute, most notably reducing its flights to Malaysia in June.

    Final thoughts

    This expanded schedule, while promising, is still a 94% reduction of its previously planned July schedule.

    With transit arrangements now in place for 14 countries, it is expected that Singapore Airlines will continue to make progress on that front, even as it gradually expands the number of destinations it serves.

    I’m also keen to see which other countries Singapore will set up travel ‘green lanes’ or ‘travel bubbles’, and hopefully bring back some level of leisure travel in the near term.

  • Singapore Airlines and Silkair ramp up capacity for June and July 2020

    Singapore Airlines and Silkair ramp up capacity for June and July 2020

    The carriers will operate over 800 flights to and from 27 cities over the next two months, up from the 15 cities served in May

    In another encouraging news, Singapore Airlines and Silkair announced on Monday (1 Jun) that it will be expanding the list of destinations they will fly to in June and July.

    Both carriers will operate to a total of 27 cities across 18 countries/territories.

    Transit through Singapore still not possible yet

    While this expanded network is a move towards allowing passengers to transit through Singapore in the near term, SIA has mentioned transit is still not possible for now until its plans for transfer procedures have been finalised.

    (Photo: Changi Airport Group)

    The Singapore aviation authority has earlier announced that transit passengers will be allowed through Changi Airport from today (2 Jun), subject to approvals of plans submitted by airlines on safe transfers of passengers.

    The transit market will be critical to Singapore Airlines and Silkair, given that roughly a third of all passengers travelling through Changi are transit passengers, and most of these passengers will likely be carried by Singapore Airlines or Silkair.

    Singapore Airlines schedule

    In addition to the 14 destinations it served in May, Singapore Airlines will be adding the following destinations from June:

    • Adelaide
    • Amsterdam
    • Auckland
    • Barcelona
    • Brisbane
    • Christchurch
    • Copenhagen
    • Hong Kong
    • Melbourne
    • Osaka

    The full schedules for Singapore Airlines (as of 1 Jun) is as follow:

    Southeast Asia

    SectorFlight no.Days operatingDepArrDurationAircraft
    Singapore – Kuala LumpurSQ104Mon, Wed, Fri083009301hA350-900
    Kuala Lumpur – SingaporeSQ105Mon, Wed, Fri102511351h 10mA350-900
    Singapore – BangkokSQ976(Only in July)
    Mon, Fri, Sun    		160017252h 25mB787-10
    Bangkok – SingaporeSQ979Mon, Fri, Sun183021552h 25mB787-10
    Singapore – JakartaSQ966Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sun183019201h 50mA350-900
    Jakarta – SingaporeSQ967Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sun201523051h 50mA350-900
    Singapore – ManilaSQ910Mon*, Fri093013053h 35mA350-900
    Manila – SingaporeSQ917Mon*, Fri141517553h 40mA350-900
    Hanoi – SingaporeSQ175Fri123517053h 30mB787-10
    Ho Chi Minh City – SingaporeSQ177Mon, Thu123015302hB787-10

    *No service on 8 Jun; will operate once-off on 9 Jun

    North Asia

    SectorFlight no.Days operatingDepArrDurationAircraft
    Singapore – SeoulSQ600Wed, Sat080015356h 35mA350-900
    Seoul – SingaporeSQ609Wed, Sat164522006h 15mA350-900
    Singapore – Tokyo NaritaSQ638Thu, Sat, Sun002508307h 5mB787-10
    Tokyo Narita – SingaporeSQ637Thu, Sat, Sun101016207h 10mB787-10
    Singapore – Osaka KansaiSQ622(From 12 Jun) Fri143022106h 40mA350-900
    Osaka KansaiSQ623(From 12 Jun) Fri23250440(+1)6h 15mA350-900
    Singapore – ShanghaiSQ830Mon093015055h 35mB787-10
    Shanghai – SingaporeSQ833Mon165022205h 30mB787-10
    Singapore – Hong KongSQ890(from 10 Jun) Wed, Thu, Sat072511203h 55mB787-10
    Hong Kong – SingaporeSQ891(from 10 Jun) Wed, Thu, Sat122516203h 55mB787-10

    Southwest Pacific

    SectorFlight no.Days operatingDepArrDurationAircraft
    Singapore – AdelaideSQ279(From 8 Jun) Mon23400755(+1)6h 45mA350-900
    Adelaide – SingaporeSQ278(From 9 Jun) Tue091015107h 30mA350-900
    Singapore – Brisbane (via Sydney)SQ288(From 9 Jun) Tue, Fri0935215510h 20m
    (incl. 1 stop)    		A350-900
    Brisbane – SingaporeSQ288(From 9 Jun) Tue, Fri23000500+(1)8hA350-900
    Singapore – MelbourneSQ237(from 8 Jun) Mon23550920(+1)7h 25mA350-900
    SQ217(from 12 Jun) Fri111020357h 25mA350-900
    Melbourne – SingaporeSQ238(from 9 Jun) Tue23500545(+1)7h 55mA350-900
    SQ218(from 13 Jun) Sat093515257h 50mA350-900
    Singapore – SydneySQ211(2, 5, 7 Jun only) Tue, Fri, Sun093519157h 40mB777-300ER
    SQ231(from 8 Jun) Mon, Wed, Sun004510257h 40mA350-900
    SQ288(From 9 Jun) Tue, Fri093519157h 40mA350-900
    Sydney -SingaporeSQ232(1-8 Jun only) Mon, Wed, Sat110017307h 30mB777-300ER
    SQ232(from 9 Jun) Mon, Tue, Thu121018408h 30mA350-900
    Sydney – Singapore (via Brisbane)SQ288(From 9 Jun) Tue, Fri2025050010h 35m (incl. 1 stop)A350- 900
    Singapore – AucklandSQ285(From 9 Jun) Tue000513409h 35mA350-900
    SQ281From 12 Jun) Fri084522209h 35mA350-900
    Auckland – SingaporeSQ282(From 10 Jun) Wed23200610(+1)10h 50mA350-900
    SQ286(From 13 Jun) Sat1515220510h 50mA350-900
    Singapore – ChristchurchSQ297(From 14 Jun) Sun23001240(+1)9h 40mA350-900
    Christchurch – SingaporeSQ298(From 16 Jun) Tue0900155010h 50mA350-900

    Europe

    SectorFlight no.Days operatingDepArrDurationAircraft
    Singapore – LondonSQ322Tue, Thu, Sat23300555(+1)13h 25mA350-900
    London – SingaporeSQ317Mon, Thu, Sat11250730(+1)13h 5mA350-900
    Singapore – FrankfurtSQ326(1-7 Jun only) Wed, Fri, Sun1155184012h 45mB777-300ER
    SQ26(From 9 Jun) Tue, Thu, Sat23550645(+1)12h 50mA350-900
    Frankfurt – SingaporeSQ325(1-8 Jun only) Mon, Thu, Sat20001425(+1)12h 25mB777-300ER
    SQ25(From 11 Jun) Mon, Thu, Sat12300650(+1)12h 20mA350-900
    Singapore – ZurichSQ346Wed, Fri, Sun0125081512h 50mB777-300ER / A350-900
    Zurich – SingaporeSQ345Mon, Thu, Sat11450555(+1)12h 10mB777-300ER / A350-900
    Singapore – AmsterdamSQ324(From 9 Jun) Tue, Sat23550715(+1)13h 20mA350-900
    Amsterdam – SingaporeSQ323(From 11 Jun) Mon, Thu11150555(+1)12h 40mA350-900
    Singapore – BarcelonaSQ388(From 11 Jun) Thu23350655(+1)13h 20mA350-900
    Barcelona – SingaporeSQ387(From 13 Jun) Sat12050700(+1)12h 55mA350-900
    Singapore – CopenhagenSQ352(From 18 Jun) Thu23500625(+1)12h 35mA350-900
    Cophenhagen – SingaporeSQ351(From 20 Jun) Sat12200620(+1)12hA350-900

    USA

    SectorFlight no.Days operatingDepArrDurationAircraft
    Singapore – Los AngelesSQ38Wed, Fri, Sun1940203515h 55mA350-900
    Los Angeles – SingaporeSQ37Mon, Wed, Sat00050815(+1)17h 10mA350-900

    Silkair schedule

    Silkair will also expand its list of destinations beyond Chongqing, to also serve Cebu, Kuala Lumpur and Medan.

    SectorFlight no.Days operatingDepArrDurationAircraft
    Singapore – ChongqingMI972Mon070011354h 35mB737-800
    Chongqing – SingaporeMI971Mon123517304h 55mB737-800
    Singapore – CebuMI560(From 12 Jun) Wed, Fri103014003h 30mB737-800
    Cebu – SingaporeMI559(From 10 Jun) Wed, Fri145018353h 45mB737-800
    Singapore – Kuala LumpurMI324(From 13 Jun) Sat, Sun083009301hB737-800
    Kuala Lumpur – SingaporeMI323(From 13 Jun) Sat, Sun102511251hB737-800
    Singapore – MedanMI234(From 9 Jun) Tue, Thu074008001h 20mB737-800
    Medan – SingaporeMI233(From 9 Jun) Tue, Thu084511051h 20mB737-800

    Scoot’s schedule for June

    Scoot has earlier announced its schedule for June, expanding its destination list to a total of six destinations:

    • Guanzghou
    • Hong Kong
    • Perth
    • Ipoh
    • Penang
    • Kuching

    Singapore Airlines Group schedules for the rest of 2020

    While Singapore Airlines continue to make its full originally planned schedule available for August 2020 and beyond, the airline is likely to make adjustments down the road, depending on what the global situation is like at that point in time.

    Of course, while we hope for a full recovery of air travel, experts have warned that this is unlikely in the near term, and the volume of air travel is likely to only regain former levels by 2022 or beyond.

    Final thoughts

    This expanded schedule is definitely along way off SIngapore Airlines’ full schedule. Despite this new development, Singapore Airlines has pointedly said that this is still a 96% reduction off the same capacity last year, so the road to recovery is definitely long.

    I’ll be interested to see what will the transfer/transit arrangements at Changi Airport be like, given that this step up in air services is a prelude to the transit traffic that SIA will want to court again.

    Another thing that we will be watching out is how Singapore Airlines proceed with its plans to fold Silkair into the mainline, given that the integration was planned to begin this year.

    In the meantime, Singapore has earlier announced that it will be exploring setting up travel ‘green lanes’, or ‘travel bubbles’ with some countries, which will help to facilitate ‘essential travel’. By ‘essential travel’, this points to the most important business travel or urgent personal travel, and excludes all mass market travel, so that means it may be a long while before anyone of us steps on an aircraft for a holiday.

  • Singapore Airlines to take over Silkair’s Singapore-Busan services

    Singapore Airlines to take over Silkair’s Singapore-Busan services

    The daily A330-300 service will see an increase of 76% in seat capacity between the two cities.

    Singapore Airlines will operate an A330-300 service between Singapore and Busan, taking over the existing SilkAir service from 28 October 2019. The transfer will enable Singapore Airlines to increase seat capacity on the route by 76% to meet the growing travel demand.

    SIA will operate flights to Busan four times per week, maintaining SilkAir’s current flight frequency. The revised schedule will be as follow:

    RouteFlightDepartureArrivalFlight timeDaysAircraft
    SIN-PUSSQ61623100635(+1)6h 45mMon, Fri, SatAirbus A330-300
    23100630(+1)6h 40mWedAirbus A330-300
    PUS-SINSQ615080013256h 25mTue, Thu, SatAirbus A330-300
    081013256h 15mSunAirbus A330-300

    The route will be served with the A330-300 aircraft with 285 seats, consisting 30 Business Class and 255 Economy Class seats. The A330s can accommodate up to 123 more passengers per flight than SilkAir’s 162-seat Boeing 737-800s which currently serve the Singapore-Busan route.

    If you are familiar with SIA’s A330, you will know that these are the old 2009 regional business class seats in a 2-2-2 layout, which features angled beds.

    Boeing 737 MAX 8

    Silkair announced Busan as a new destination back in February 2019 which was supposed to be operated by the ill-fated Boeing 737 MAX 8s. However, the grounding of the fleet since March 2019 meant that the service was operated by the older Boeing 737-800s instead.

    Given the range of a typical Boeing 737-800 is about 6+ hours, the Singapore-Busan sector is clearly within the upper limits of the range. Depending on the cargo loads for the flight and other factors such as weather, there may be load restrictions on the flight, which will definitely hamper commercial viability.

    With Singapore Airlines taking over the service with the A330 (which is due for retirement by 2020), the move will free up some Boeing 737-800s for SilkAir to use for the upcoming year end Northern Winter peak.

  • SilkAir offers flights from Singapore-Busan from May 2019

    SilkAir offers flights from Singapore-Busan from May 2019

    SilkAir has announced yet another exciting new destination on its network, this time to Seoul’s second largest city: Busan.

    This is SilkAir’s first destination in South Korea, less than two years after it launched its service to Hiroshima. As with the Hiroshima service, the Singapore-Busan service will be operated using the Boeing 737 MAX 8.

    The service will commence from 1 May 2019, offering four flights a week to Busan from Singapore. SilkAir will also be the only airline offering non-stop services between the two cities.

    The schedule 

    The outbound flight from Singapore operates overnight and arrives into Busan in the morning, while the return flight departs Busan in the morning.

    RouteFlightDepartureArrivalFlight timeDaysAircraft
    SIN-PUSMI87623150700(+1)6h 45mMon, Wed, Fri, SatBoeing 737 MAX 8
    PUS-SINMI875080014157h 15mTueBoeing 737 MAX 8
    083014156h 45mThu, Sat, SunBoeing 737 MAX 8

    The aircraft

    SilkAir Boeing 737 MAX 8 Business Class

    The service between Singapore and Busan will be operated with SilkAir’s newest Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft in a two-class configuration, with 12 Business Class seats and 144 in Economy Class.

    Thoughts

    The integration with Singapore Airlines from next year is obviously changing the way SIA Group is looking at its network proposition in this awkward transitional phase.

    SilkAir didn’t used to venture beyond Southeast Asia given its brand as a ‘regional carrier’, but in recent years there have been slow but sure expansion into further destinations, including a more regular Cairns offering, Hiroshima and now Busan.

    And surely after the (seemingly) successful launch of Hiroshima and more recently, the news on new lie-flat business class seats selected for the narrow body aircraft, I expect SilkAir to continue to introduce more destinations over the next two years.

  • SilkAir to operate daily services to Cairns from 2 June 2019

    SilkAir to operate daily services to Cairns from 2 June 2019

    After announcing a massive scrapping rationalisation of services which saw many of its destinations transferred to Scoot, SilkAir is certainly springing a surprise here: daily services to Cairns from June to October 2019, the better half of the Northern Summer season.

    Currently, SilkAir is operating five weekly services to Cairns. The additional services will be on Tuesdays and Sundays, operated with SilkAir’s latest Boeing 737 MAX 8.

    The full schedule is as below:

    RouteFlightDepartureArrivalFlight TimeDaysAircraft type
    SIN-CNSMI811011009556h 45mMon, Thu, SatBoeing 737 MAX 8
    SIN-CNSMI813084517156h 30mTue, Wed, Fri, SunBoeing 737 MAX 8
    CNS-SINMI812104515256h 40mMon, Thu, SatBoeing 737 MAX 8
    CNS-SINMI814181523056h 20mTue, Wed, Fri, SunBoeing 737 MAX 8

    SilkAir’s furthest destination

    At over 6 hours, Cairns is probably the furthest destinations on SilkAir’s network, even longer than the newly launched Hiroshima in Japan (that sits at 6 hours 15 minutes).

    That makes the flight an incredibly unattractive one, given that 6 hours is an awfully long time to be sitting in a narrowbody aircraft, and if you are up in the pointy end, an awful load of money to spend sitting on a recliner seat especially on the overnight services that departs on some days.

    SilkAir Boeing 737 MAX 8 Business Class

    You are probably better off flying to Brisbane and transferring onto a domestic service operated by Virgin Australia, whom Singapore Airlines owns partly.

    Apart from the northern city of Queensland, SilkAir also operate six weekly services to Darwin, also known as the Top End of Australia’s Northern Territory.