Heathrow-Singapore: Lower fares in sight
Why Singapore?
Because this popular Asian route has been suffering from an acute seat shortage. It’s meant high fares and problems in booking flights at busy times. Fortunately, relief is at hand, thanks to the arrival of the A380 with its capacity to carry more passengers.
The superjumbo, which is already being operated by Singapore Airlines, with Qantas set to follow early next year, will offer passengers the chance to sample some of the best in-flight accommodation. More to the point, every one of SIA’s A380s can accommodate 471 passengers as against 375 on a B747-400.
So every A380 flight to Singapore can carry almost 100 extra passengers. As more and more flights convert to A380s, the capacity crisis will ease.
Why the seat shortage?
Because the three incumbents plying the route (British Airways, SIA and Qantas) haven’t provided more seats to meet demand.
Contrast this with the situation at Hong Kong, a rival business centre to Singapore, whose air service from London has expanded by leaps and bounds. Over the past 30 years, the number of carriers has leapt from one (British Airways) in colonial days, to five (BA, Cathay Pacific, Virgin Atlantic, Air New Zealand and Qantas) at present. The number of flights has also risen substantially over this period.
Seat capacity governs the ticket cost, so fares to Singapore, especially in business and economy class, are significantly more expensive than those to Hong Kong, even though the flight length is roughly the same.
Booked online (with ba.com) two months ahead, a return business class ticket (based on midweek travel with a one-week stay) with BA in November would cost £1,898 to Hong Kong but £2,880 to Singapore. A return economy class ticket (with the same travel criteria) was quoted as £547 to Hong Kong but £750 to Singapore.
But surely airlines have to make a profit?
Of course they do, but when capacity is this tight, a route stagnates because the end-to-end market doesn’t grow. Witness the situation seen with direct London-India flights before liberalisation. They were so full that passengers had to opt for indirect airlines such as Air France, Lufthansa, Emirates and so on.
A similar scenario has been happening with London-Singapore.
What will the A380 offer?
Both SIA and Qantas are installing state-of-the-art seating on the superjumbo, which means suite accommodation in first class, proper flat-beds in business class and more space in economy. It’s also a great plane to fly. The A380 offers a smoother and quieter ride than any other wide-bodied plane in the sky.
However, when it comes to seat layouts, Singapore and Qantas differ. SIA operates with three classes but Qantas will have four. On the A380s SIA has fitted 12 first class seats on the lower deck with 60 business class seats upstairs. Its 399-seat economy zone is spread over both decks. The point to note here is that SIA, alone of the A380 operators, has chosen to install a small economy zone upstairs, immediately behind business class. This smaller, private compartment is a nice place to be if booked in economy.
Qantas has opted for 14 first class suites, along with 332 economy seats downstairs. Upstairs, it has installed 72 business class seats with a 32-seat premium economy zone at the rear.
Which flights will the A380 operate?
SIA is now using the A380 on two of its three daily flights.
Out of Heathrow you’ll find the A380 operating SQ317 at 1055 and SQ321 at 2205. From Singapore, the superjumbo appears on flights SQ318 at 1255, and SQ322 at 2345.
SIA says its third flight (currently operated by a B747-400 with the “older” premium seating) will convert to an A380 once sufficient aircraft have joined its fleet.
Qantas will begin using the A380 on the Heathrow-Singapore-Sydney route in around February. It will depart Heathrow for Singapore as QF32 every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 1115. The inbound service from Singapore will be QF31, and will operate every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday at 2359. Services will be daily when more A380s join the fleet. Qantas’s other flights on this route are operated by B747-400s.
For its part, BA operates a mixture of B747-400s and B777s, but when it takes delivery of its A380s in a few years’ time, these are bound to appear on the Singapore run.
For the future
Previously, Singapore and the UK had a restrictive-air treaty, but a new and liberalised agreement gives more freedom to existing carriers to add extra flights. Although, that’s not as easy as it sounds. An SIA spokesperson said: “The primary reason for the lack of introduction of more capacity by existing players is slot congestion and, consequently, the high prices of slots at Heathrow. SIA is increasing capacity for customers by being the first to utilise the A380 superjumbo.”
This will be welcome news for regular travellers to Singapore.
