A380 to India from June

[ycp81]

Guess we will be seeing SQ A380s at Changi T2 again!

[aviationp]

Award availability is disappearing fast! I just made a booking (made a mistake, went to change it, and seats were gone already!)

Finally they have a reason to say First/Suites in the T2 Checkin lounge

Edit: I'm confused why my post count is only 2. Were there some system changes recently?

[viraj735]

The current demand to/from India in the evening is premium heavy. The 2 back-to-back planes are deployed to carry business class passengers. Economy class loads on both especially on the 2nd flight are generally very light - no more than 50% filled. Business class on the 1st flight is usually 100% and never saw D savers there, on the 2nd flight 60-100% full.

And now Jet Airways has downgauged Mumbai from flat bed A330 to recliner 737, and that flight is also usually very full in business class when it was A330, the A380 will be easily filled.

I think they will still make money by deploying 1 777 and 1 A380 every night as the business class will still be filled to the brim. But the economy class will likely be very very light.

This is contrary to my anecdotal experiences on the BOM route. I'm not very regular, only about 6-8 times a year but almost every time I fly this route ex-SIN I get bumped from Y to J because Y is overbooked and bar Christmas I don't travel during school holiday periods.

I do agree that J on SQ426 is goes out full. I often find SQ424 very light in the premium cabins.

[Nick C]

http://airlineroute.net/2014/04/07/sq-delbom-may14/

Singapore – Delhi
SQ402 SIN0235 – 0535DEL 772 D
SQ406 SIN1725 – 2005DEL 388 D

SQ401 DEL0925 – 1740SIN 772 D
SQ403 DEL2205 – 0610+1SIN 388 D

Singapore – Mumbai
SQ422 SIN0730 – 1020BOM 772 D
SQ424 SIN1915 – 2155BOM 388 D

SQ423 BOM0025 – 0820SIN 388 D
SQ421 BOM1145 – 1945SIN 772 D

SQ423 operates with A380 from 31MAY14
SQ422/421 schedule listed above is effective 11JUN14

[SQ228]

So now that the biggest question has been answered, it leads us on to the subsequent speculation:

1. Where are the A380s being pulled from, or has the reason to have one or two at a time grounded for extended periods reached an end? (Currently SKC is out and SKB has just returned to service.)

2. Where will the new 77W craft go now that BOM will no longer have a 77W flight?

3. Will the DEL and BOM A380 flights be predominantly SKA-K series or SKL-T series?

[SQ228]

I'll start it off!

Where are the A380s coming from?

My initial thought was HKG. No- both daily flights don't match the times India needs and booking searches for late June show both as still A380.

Then I wondered PVG as it's only 5x weekly and matches the DEL flight times exactly. Maybe, but booking searches for late June show it as still A380.

I then turned my attention to MEL and SYD, particularly as SYD has 2x daily and MEL now has a 4th daily flight and holds up an A380 with a 10 hour layover each day. Maybe, but booking searches for late June show all exisitng A380 flights as still A380.

Well, I'm out of ideas...

[9V-JKL]

NRT. 638/7 becomes 77WN

[hviswanathan]

I'll start it off!

Where are the A380s coming from?

My initial thought was HKG. No- both daily flights don't match the times India needs and booking searches for late June show both as still A380.

Then I wondered PVG as it's only 5x weekly and matches the DEL flight times exactly. Maybe, but booking searches for late June show it as still A380.

I then turned my attention to MEL and SYD, particularly as SYD has 2x daily and MEL now has a 4th daily flight and holds up an A380 with a 10 hour layover each day. Maybe, but booking searches for late June show all exisitng A380 flights as still A380.

Well, I'm out of ideas...

As per SQ website both flights are layout (upper deck economy) which means SKA-SKK series.

[Nick C]

Then I wondered PVG as it's only 5x weekly and matches the DEL flight times exactly. Maybe, but booking searches for late June show it as still A380.

Tooth and nail battle to get the green light for this deployment. Withdrawing it will bring them back to square one. It's being increased to 7x.

The 388 has some slack with its current utilisation (even with 1 always going though Cs and wing rib mods). The 38A on the other hand is seeing very high use - 2.5 frames for LAX/JFK and 1.5 for LHR/CDG = 8.

[bent]

I am pretty sure Emirates will follow suit by deploying A380 to India next

[FlyBoy]

Seems SQ pulls the A380 from MEL from late November 2014 and from one of the SYD flights as well

Why in November and not June with the Mumbai flights start ?

Where do the MEL and SYD A380's get deployed to ?

[MAN Flyer]

As a result of planned Airbus A380 service increase to Shanghai, and introduction to Delhi and Mumbai starting 30MAY14, Singapore Airlines is adjusting European operations due to aircraft redeployment.

Singapore – Amsterdam eff 29MAY14 4 of 7 weekly Boeing 777-300ER service operates until 28MAY14. Service returns to daily 777-200ER
SQ324 SIN2355 – 0710+1AMS 772 D
SQ323 AMS1115 – 0550+1SIN 772 D

Singapore – London Heathrow eff 30MAY14 A380 service reduced from 18 to 14 weekly
SQ306 SIN0110 – 0735LHR 77W D
SQ308 SIN0905 – 1530LHR 388 D
SQ318 SIN1245 – 1905LHR 77W D
SQ322 SIN2330 – 0555+1LHR 388 D

SQ317 LHR1130 – 0720+1SIN 388 D
SQ305 LHR1335 – 0925+1SIN 77W D
SQ319 LHR2040 – 1630+1SIN 77W D
SQ321 LHR2205 – 1755+1SIN 388 D

Planned overall operation reduction to London from 28 to 25 weekly, remains unchanged from 06MAY14 to 11JUN14 (A380 operates 16 weekly until 29MAY14). Above schedule effective 12JUN14.

http://airlineroute.net/2014/04/08/sq-lhrams-jun14/

[FlyBoy]

Explains part of it, but not removing 2 x A380 flights from Australia

[SQ228]

Seems SQ pulls the A380 from MEL from late November 2014 and from one of the SYD flights as well

Why in November and not June with the Mumbai flights start ?

Where do the MEL and SYD A380's get deployed to ?

Where does this information come from? Is it over a long period or just a few days?

Quite often when traffic to/from Australia is in a quiet patch, they replace an A380 with a 77W for a few days, maybe for a bit of scheduled maintenance work. It usually occurs in the middle fo the week when loads are lightest.

[SQ228]

http://airlineroute.net/2014/04/08/sq-lhrams-jun14/

Ahhh... AMS gets shafted yet again! I think this is the third time they've been duped into thinking the 77W upgrade was for keeps, only to have it pulled back off them the moment SQ finds someone else they want to impress...