Volcanic Ash in Europe : cancellations and rebookings on SQ

[MAN Flyer]

I have merged two threads into this one covering cancellations and rebookings over this pesky volcano in Iceland.

[kt74]

SIA is not getting the best publicity in the UK around its handling of the ash issue - I heard a BBC radio interview over the weekend with a frantic woman stranded with her kids in SIN en route between SYD and LHR, saying that she had no help from SIA to either find a hotel or re-book, nobody was answering the phone, and the hotel was telling stranded guests that they would have to pay themselves, and that in any case they would be turfed out on Tuesday because the hotel was fully booked...

I know this is based on a sample of one interview, and of course that SIA has no obligation to its ex-SIN passengers because EU rules don't apply, but this can't be good publicity

Compare this with Emirates' response which has been far more structured and open - see here and here - hotels in Dubai organised for all passengers, with Emirates representatives on hand at hotels to assist with rebooking:
"Emirates continues to provide hotel accommodation in Dubai for thousands of passengers who were in transit when the disruption began. The airline has stationed support teams within the hotels where our passengers are staying and also set up information boards to ensure customers are kept as up-to-date as possible."

I can't believe I'm saying this, but this is one time where I think I'd have been glad to be flying Emirates rather than SQ...

[SQ Queen]

Using A380s To Clear Backlog?

What are the chances of SQ pulling their A380s from the HK & Tokyo routes to clear the backlog in a more rapid manner?

I see that 2 Sin-BCN flights have been confirmed, with one already in the air.
Any idea what aircraft was used & BCN is even ready to receive an A380?

[barbene]

Well, I hope they do something - anything,soon. ! I am presently stuck in London trying to get back to SIN , but fortunate enough to have family to stay with. The SQ website is very limited in information and is updated infrequently. It is also hard to see that SQ are making any efforts.

I have not been contacted by anyone, received no sms as they promised, and spent many hours on the phone trying to rebook flights.

The UK news is full of reports about lines using Spain as a hub and busing people to/from origin points. Isn't this something SQ can consider and start clearing some passengers. I know it requires organisation, but surely they have to do something like this otherwise the backlog will simply be too great.

It's time to think outside of the box.

[SQ Queen]

It's time to think outside of the box.

I agree. They were supposed to sms me on my flight status - never did & I had to call them myself to verify the flight status.

And even then, it wasn't clear: was told emphatically that my flight was canceled and they requested for my mobile no so that they can contact me should that flight be canceled.

Go figure that one out.

Spain has been spared from the ash cloud for most of this episode & I'm quite surprised that they have not been more aggressive in providing customers this alternative.

Crisis management skills being called into question here?

[SMK77]

I am stuck in MUC and am very disappointed with SQ - they cannot handle anything outside the norm. While other airlines are already flying, their birds are still on the ground in SIN...

[SQ Queen]

Paris-CDG

CDG is getting back on it's feet and AF/KLM is targetting to fulfill 80% of Long Haul & 50% of domestic European services today- I sure hope that SQ makes full use of this window..

[MAN Flyer]

I have to agree that they do not seem to be as on the ball with this situation as they normally are when things to wrong.

Other than providing the best service in the air, one of the main reasons I justify the extra cost of flying SQ (to myself and other travellers) is they are good if and when things go wrong, and have always previously proved to be so IME. I also did actually get an SMS from them yesterday advising that my SQ327 from MAN tomorrow was cancelled so no complaints there.

To be fair to them this is an unprecedented situation, and makes 911 look like kids stuff. Having said that, it does appear other airlines are handling it a bit better than SQ.

What's the latest with Hotels in Singapore, are they full ?.

[trekkie]

deleted

[coffeeblack]

The SQ website is also getting slammed at the moment. Slow as hell and nearly impossible to log into account. This is definitely not a good image.

[Pinkfloyd]

MAN Flyer, was looking at hotels for some of our guys in SIN. Tried using booking.com and a check from tomorrow (Wednesday) to Saturday shows only 6 hotels available out of 145. Minus the hotel 81's and Fragrance hotels, it seems there is only Pan Pacific (2 rooms left), Copthorne King's (5 rooms) and Crowne Plaza Changi Airport (3 rooms).

[vincent0720]

Some interesting diversions.

SQ 0061 from Houston-Moscow-Singapore has been diverted to operate Houston-Seoul Incheon-Singapore

and SQ 0025 from New York JFK-Frankfurt-Singapore has been diverted to operate New York JFK-Tokyo Narita-Singapore

These flights should arrive tomorrow.

Very interesting indeed!

[feb01mel]

MAN Flyer, was looking at hotels for some of our guys in SIN. Tried using booking.com and a check from tomorrow (Wednesday) to Saturday shows only 6 hotels available out of 145. Minus the hotel 81's and Fragrance hotels, it seems there is only Pan Pacific (2 rooms left), Copthorne King's (5 rooms) and Crowne Plaza Changi Airport (3 rooms).

Food & Hotel Asia Exhibition will be happening on 21-23 Apr here in Singapore, we are expecting about 20,000 visitors for the event, and there is the World Gourmet Summit as well, & Marina Bay Sands will be opening next week as well, thus hotels are really full here.

[feb01mel]

Singapore Airlines is operating the following scheduled flights to and from Europe on 20 April:

SQ333, Paris-Singapore, originally scheduled to depart at 1215hrs (Paris time), now retimed to depart 2200hrs (Paris time)

SQ378, Singapore-Milan-Barcelona, scheduled to depart at 2345hrs (Singapore time), operating non-stop to Barcelona, bypassing Milan.

The following flights to Europe on 21 April have been scheduled:

SQ324, Singapore-Amsterdam, originally scheduled to depart at 2345hrs (Singapore time), now retimed to depart 0015hrs (Singapore time)

SQ334, Singapore-Paris, originally scheduled to depart at 2340hrs (Singapore time), now retimed to depart 0010hrs (Singapore time)

SQ346, Singapore-Zurich, originally scheduled to depart 0110hrs (Singapore time), now retimed to depart 0140hrs

SQ365, Rome-Singapore, scheduled to depart 1600hrs (Rome time)

SQ366, Singapore-Rome, scheduled to depart 0520hrs (Singapore time)

All other flights to and from Europe remain cancelled at this point.

[ilovesq]

Very interesting indeed!

wow! is this for real? it'll be quite interesting to be on one of those flights. then what happens to those passengers booked for JFK-FRA and IAH-DME?