Singapore Airlines (SIA) and low-cost carrier Scoot will resume flights to four destinations in China from late November.
Mainline SIA will return to Chengdu, Chongqing and Xiamen, while Scoot will once again fly to Changsha.
The Singapore-Chengdu, Chongqing and Xiamen routes will all see the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft deployed, SIA’s lowest-capacity aircraft.
These seat just 10 passengers in business class across an alternating 2-2 and 1-1 configuration, as well as 144 passengers across a 3-3 layout in economy class.
From late November, SIA will also take over the Singapore-Shenzhen route, currently served by Scoot, and also deploy the 737 Max 8 on that service.
As Singapore-based industry analyst Brendan Sobie pointed out to The Straits Times in an article earlier this week, while the resumptions are encouraging, SIA Group’s China capacity will still be over 20 per cent below pre-Covid levels in December 2023 owing to regulatory issues.
“It is strategically important for SIA Group to fully restore its seat capacity to China, as Chinese carriers have already fully restored their capacity to Singapore,” Sobie said.
SIA currently serves just three destinations in China – Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
The Star Alliance member serves Beijing three times a day, Shanghai four times a day, and from late November Guangzhou will increase to twice a day.
