A350 Deliveries and Routes

[SQ228]

I should have gone looking for this before my previous post:

http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/...rvice-changes/

GRU terminates 22OCT16. SIN-BCN sectors remain.

Either they use their impending glut of old 772ERs and park them on the tarmac in Spain, or there definitely will be another annoucement soon as well as an awful a lot of rebooking of people's Christmas flights which will not be well received, I'd imagine!

[Metropolitan Airlines]

I should have gone looking for this before my previous post:

http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/...rvice-changes/

GRU terminates 22OCT16. SIN-BCN sectors remain.

Either they use their impending glut of old 772ERs and park them on the tarmac in Spain, or there definitely will be another annoucement soon as well as an awful a lot of rebooking of people's Christmas flights which will not be well received, I'd imagine!

Or perhaps BCN will go daily, then everyone will be happy.

[SQ228]

Or perhaps BCN will go daily, then everyone will be happy.

The last time BCN was daily, it was as a daily tagged flight with MXP, and that was back when it was a lot easier to fill planes. I can't see any way that BCN will get it's own daily non-stop service, sadly.

[SQMilan]

The last time BCN was daily, it was as a daily tagged flight with MXP, and that was back when it was a lot easier to fill planes. I can't see any way that BCN will get it's own daily non-stop service, sadly.

If they want to split operations I think that they could try to operate 4-5 weekly flights to BCN. I don't know resuming daily SIN-MXP-BCN could be a good idea, especially if the SIN-MXP terminator flight is well performing. Moreover, in this case BCN would lose the non-stop service.

[SQ228]

If they want to split operations I think that they could try to operate 4-5 weekly flights to BCN. I don't know resuming daily SIN-MXP-BCN could be a good idea, especially if the SIN-MXP terminator flight is well performing. Moreover, in this case BCN would lose the non-stop service.

I don't think BCN has much say in it due to the lighter loads.

MXP could probably support a daily A359 service on its own without much trouble. given it already has 4 flights that terminate and 2 that split with BCN- a slightly smaller plane with better fuel economy could help MXP go independent.

[SQMilan]

I don't think BCN has much say in it due to the lighter loads.

MXP could probably support a daily A359 service on its own without much trouble. given it already has 4 flights that terminate and 2 that split with BCN- a slightly smaller plane with better fuel economy could help MXP go independent.

Let's see... I think that changes will occour immediately from the next Winter, I don't think SQ leaves a plane for more than 24 hours stop in BCN three times a week...

[SQKevin]

9V-SMD has just completed her second flight. Delivery is scheduled for next week. TAC is on 23 June.

[Danny Bhoy]

Flew SMC as SQ891 HKG-SIN yesterday. J on award (a case of use 'em or lose 'em). NBC was nice, an improvement over the original 77W and A380 ones, with intermediate reclined mode. Didn't try bed mode tho. Being a short fart, had no problem with my feet in the hole (still angled). 6 footers would be in trouble I think. 11DF for those who want to sleep straight.

[loldude333]

Flew SMC as SQ891 HKG-SIN yesterday. J on award (a case of use 'em or lose 'em). NBC was nice, an improvement over the original 77W and A380 ones, with intermediate reclined mode. Didn't try bed mode tho. Being a short fart, had no problem with my feet in the hole (still angled). 6 footers would be in trouble I think. 11DF for those who want to sleep straight.

Just wondering, have you sat on the new J in the 77WN/77WR? Have heard that the overall experience is better due to the 77W having a wider body, though i could be wrong. Have sat the new J in 77WN, have to agree that its quite brilliant. Either way, the new J is definitely an improvement over the old one (which is still great)!

[Dobbo]

What impact is this going to have in MAN? Clearly it looks to have been bumped down the A350 pecking order, might it be doable as a standalone in the B77W?

[SQ228]

What impact is this going to have in MAN? Clearly it looks to have been bumped down the A350 pecking order, might it be doable as a standalone in the B77W?

With concentration fully on US flights and fixing up BCN/MXP post-GRU, I would think it hard to see any change to other Euro routes for another 6-12 months maybe. The impact on MUC from the introduction of DUS is yet to be felt and CPH still has the old 772s, as well as IST and FCO.

The SFO announcement really blows away everything we had thought was going to happen for the time-being, and that follows the JNB announcement, which had previously been thought of as a low priority for SQ. Literally anything could happen now- like will DME/IAH suddenly go A359 to keep it afloat? My suspicion is that the SQ325/6/7/8 network will be left alone for the moment as it occupies 3x 77WR quite neatly and usually provides a good yield, while they concentrate on more pressing concerns. But who knows...

[vasqflyer]

With concentration fully on US flights and fixing up BCN/MXP post-GRU, I would think it hard to see any change to other Euro routes for another 6-12 months maybe. The impact on MUC from the introduction of DUS is yet to be felt and CPH still has the old 772s, as well as IST and FCO.

The SFO announcement really blows away everything we had thought was going to happen for the time-being, and that follows the JNB announcement, which had previously been thought of as a low priority for SQ. Literally anything could happen now- like will DME/IAH suddenly go A359 to keep it afloat? My suspicion is that the SQ325/6/7/8 network will be left alone for the moment as it occupies 3x 77WR quite neatly and usually provides a good yield, while they concentrate on more pressing concerns. But who knows...

I agree. It looks like everything we thought about old 777s leaving has been wrong too. It may be possible that at the end of the year / early next year a few 772ERs are freed up to replace Brisbane and other cities that need a full flat bed instead of the regional product. Maybe a few of the 772s might leave towards the back of that time frame too but other than that, no major changes until next year.

[Metropolitan Airlines]

What impact is this going to have in MAN? Clearly it looks to have been bumped down the A350 pecking order, might it be doable as a standalone in the B77W?

I think MAN should be split from MUC as the current offering is clearly not attractive to SE Asian customers catching SQ - they might be better off catching EK, EY or CX instead.

Moreover, I wonder if CX can start MAD themselves, why SQ is struggling to make BCN 4x weekly as a standalone direct sector? If BCN is not the best port to go, perhaps they can switch to MAD instead?

Finally, rather to launch a JV with Air France and have to deal with the restrictions within Star Alliance, why SQ don't retire 1 or 2 A380s for a more frequent A350 service to CDG and ZRH? In today's aviation world, I think frequency, rather than capacity is the key to success. Therefore I would encourage SQ to seriously ditch some more A380s in replacement of A350s to Europe to beat Cathay Pacific.

[Dobbo]

I think MAN should be split from MUC as the current offering is clearly not attractive to SE Asian customers catching SQ - they might be better off catching EK, EY or CX instead

I agree, on an MAN-SIN route it is as quick to go via Heathrow, Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi and there are also better frequencies. CX are likely to go at least daily within the next 12-18 months and there is likely to be an influx of Chinese carriers over the next couple of years. There is competition, but the market is growing rapidly.

As of around March, MAN was on around 60% of the load on the MUC-SIN sector so it probably would work - albeit it would be a big jump to go Daily straight away so maybe an interim step is needed?

[SQMilan]

I think MAN should be split from MUC as the current offering is clearly not attractive to SE Asian customers catching SQ - they might be better off catching EK, EY or CX instead.

Moreover, I wonder if CX can start MAD themselves, why SQ is struggling to make BCN 4x weekly as a standalone direct sector? If BCN is not the best port to go, perhaps they can switch to MAD instead?

Finally, rather to launch a JV with Air France and have to deal with the restrictions within Star Alliance, why SQ don't retire 1 or 2 A380s for a more frequent A350 service to CDG and ZRH? In today's aviation world, I think frequency, rather than capacity is the key to success. Therefore I would encourage SQ to seriously ditch some more A380s in replacement of A350s to Europe to beat Cathay Pacific.

You should remember that Madrid it's Iberia's hub and Iberia is part of oneworld as Cathay Pacific is. So I think that CX's flight to Madrid could catch connections from the rest of Spain and Portugal (perhaps also people heading for Macau?).

I think that if SQ wants to offer to BCN a non-stop link in order to compete with Gulf carriers, a 4 weekly flight could be enough for the entire year.

But if BCN is not able to guarantee enough passengers in order to make the route profitable, they could, for instance, offer non-stop flights during peak season (e.g. from June to October) and then offer 4 weekly flight as SIN-FCO-BCN in the rest of the year (and at the same time FCO would be operated by its own flight during peak season). So Rome would benefit from 2 extra weekly frequencies during winter season.