You will doubtless have seen our news concerning Singapore Airlines (SIA) and its A380 launch.
SIA has chosen Singapore-London as the first long-haul route to restart A380 operations. However it transpires SIA had also loaded the A380 into its booking system for the Singapore-Frankfurt-New York JFK service.
Germany’s Aerotelegraph reports there is a change of plan. Now SIA says the B777-300ER, which is currently deployed on the route, will continue to operate Singapore-Frankfurt-New York until further notice. The A380 had been expected to take over from January.
Für die Strecke Singapur – #Frankfurt – New York plant #SingaporeAirlines bis auf Weiteres doch mit #Boeing 777 statt #Airbus #A380 https://t.co/nkUZMNboz5
— aeroTELEGRAPH (@aeroTELEGRAPH) October 21, 2021
Some of you may think I am ‘splitting hairs’ but I know many readers are A380 fans. Moreover travellers in Germany will doubtless be disappointed.
They will have less of an opportunity to sample the super jumbo direct from their two main airports as Lufthansa has retired its A380 fleet.
You may also wonder why SIA was granted transatlantic fifth-freedom rights from Frankfurt. Well it’s all down to aeropolitics. SIA’s original choice was for London-New York. But its application for fifth-freedom rights was rejected by the UK government.
Hence SIA opted instead for Frankfurt-New York and the German government granted the airline’s wish. (It also helped that SIA is a Star Alliance member along with Lufthansa).
