Seem like SQ is flying to Hangzhou. SQ have secured right for 7xweekly slot to hangzhou.
Not sure whether it will take over from TR or add as new flight
Star Alliance partner Thai seems to be doing well on BKK-BRU, they will add 6th weekly flight starting on October 28th. In my opinion, Africa's connection markets are small considering it's a huge detour compared to taking gulf carriers or Ethiopian. However, EU headquarters located in Brussels, so there must be some market for SQ here. 4-5 weekly A359 will do.
I think the problem with Canada is the lack of a clear cut air link agreement.
When it was operating SIN-ICN-YVR it was on an informal 6-monthly renewable agreement. I think in the current era, SIA don't want to have an aircraft specially for a destination only because of legal uncertainty they end up having excess capacity. The SIN-ICN-YVR was also never really a dedicated aircraft type 743/4, 344, 772/W.
I have read that Canada and Singapore had since signed a Air Link Agreement but each country's MOT website are rather ambiguous about the terms (with Canada side stating it is confidential).
Is there something more to this? When they suspended SIN-YVR the reason given was capacity, but SIN-YVR was always full when I used to fly this route often, at times it can be full for the entire month (back in those days where you can call 1800-2238888 to reserve a seat and buy a ticket later). The station chief (who later became Scoot CEO) also said he is always busy there.
I must admit that I didn't think SQ would launch BRU since the ME3 and CX entered the market, and TG relaunched it several years ago too. That being said, CX and the ME3 have been facing challenges recently. You'd think Brussels' proximity to AMS and CDG would work against it too, but guess there's enough demand. I'm also hoping that starting BRU is a precursor to launching another fifth-freedom North American East Coast destination (ORD? BOS?? IAD???).
If I were a betting man I would have guessed Oslo or even Geneva before Brussels as the next SQ destination in Europe. Maybe with enough aircraft and demand, de-link Stockholm from Moscow and begin Oslo instead (SIN-DME-OSL)?
Inside this article are more destinations Changi are looking at:
Establishing links to other cities in Europe, including Geneva, Madrid, Oslo and Vienna, is next on the radar, he added.
In these key cultural and business centres in Europe, there is strong demand for flights not just to Singapore but also the wider South-east Asian and South-west Pacific regions, Mr Lim said, adding that Singapore could be a "convenient gateway" for those travellers.
In North America, Vancouver, Toronto and Chicago are the next key targets, Mr Lim added.
The airport is also looking to strengthen connectivity to Russia and the Central Asian region, with links to cities such as Almaty, Astana and St Petersburg.
Inside this article are more destinations Changi are looking at:
Anything for SQ?
Been waiting for SQ to get into MAD ever since I moved to SG and that's a long time now. This would be amazing news if it materialised but doesn't seem as if Europe is their main priority at this stage, with the exception of BRU. Seems the focus is in NA and strengthening their Asia network through frequencies on existing stations. Perhaps one for Scoot should they resume their long haul expansion after ATH and TXL.
Looking forward to exciting news in this space in the new year!
Inside this article are more destinations Changi are looking at:
Anything for SQ?
I don’t think any of those European or North American destinations come as a surprise as they are the same ones we frequently discuss on here. If we start seeing SJB onwards in the fleet then maybe some of them might be considered by SQ although they seem to move cautiously with never more than one per year and BRU has already filled that space in 2020 for Europe. I’m looking more toward America for their next addition.
Another interesting point raised though is Central Asia. Right now the entire region is a huge black hole for Singapore, which forces travellers to go via Turkey, the Middle East or China. I wonder if a city in Kazakhstan could be a possibility for MI. The region is used to being served by single aisle aircraft and based on the fares that AC charges out of PEK, competition is very low. Even KC doesn’t fly to SIN, so MI would face nil competition. (Mr Lim should note, however, that Astana is now called Nursultan, but to be fair it’s the fourth name in as many decades!)
Do the narrowbodies even have the legs to go to Central Asia from SIN?
I'd have thought that area was a good place for Scoot, if not an enroute stop from SIN to Europe for SQ.
Looking more into it possibly it’s too far. MI fly to CNS and HIJ, the latter being just short of 7 hours. Using KC’s ALA-KUL as a guide, it’s 8.5 hours. Someone more familiar with 737 MAX 8 specs might be able to advise.
I’m not sure there’s enough traffic to warrant a 787 with KC using 767s as a point of reference. I’m not sure what else Scoot may have to go the distance. CA uses A320s on a 6 hour flight from PEK as another example.
As a stopping point, it’s too far out of the direct path of flights to Western Europe to be of use. It might possibly be of much more use as a stop on the way to St Petersburg which is also suggested in the article as a destination of interest. There is also a lot of traffic between Kazakhstan and Russia although whether you’d want to go up against the existing airlines on the route in a business environment from that region of the world is debatable.
Do the narrowbodies even have the legs to go to Central Asia from SIN?
Scoot will receive 16 A321neos from Q4 2020 for mid-haul flights. They have some 4,000nm range.They could potentially change some to the XLR to increase range to 4,700nm.
SQ came surprisingly close to starting flights to Almaty a few a while ago. VIE could be the next Scoot destination in Europe.
That’s really interesting to know. Any mention of what aircraft they might have likely used? My feeling is that capacity would be the least important factor. Flight times would have to be set to maximise connections at SIN.
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