Declining passenger numbers has prompted Singapore Airlines (SIA) to temporarily suspend a number of flights on key routes.
It comes as a surprise in the case of London because, traditionally, SIA has struggled to meet
demand for its UK
services and that is why our capital city was made a priority for the carrier’s
A380s.
The flight cuts on the London run see flight SQ319 (which leaves Heathrow at 1815) and inbound flight SQ308 (departing Singapore at 0905) not operating on various dates between January 26 and March 26.
These particular flights out of London are operated by B747-400s and are timed mainly for passengers bound to or from Singapore and/or Malaysia. Schedules for SIA’s existing twice daily A380 super jumbo flights (these offer more onward connections out of Singapore) remain unchanged.
London is not the only affected city. Other SIA schedule changes include:
- A reduction in services from three to two weekly between Rome and Singapore
- A number of flights suspended between Singapore and Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Seoul
- Some underperforming services are dropped between Singapore, Brisbane and Sydney
The economic situation in Singapore is similar to that being experienced elsewhere. The City State has entered recession and its visitor numbers have been hit by the global economic downturn.
Commenting on the situation regarding London, an SIA spokesman says, “As part of an ongoing strategy of aircraft deployment and optimisation, SIA occasionally alters services across the network, including reducing frequencies during periods of lower demand (and indeed, adding frequencies during periods of high demand) hence the decision to temporarily decrease services from London has been planned for some time.”
For more info go to www.singaporeair.com
Alex McWhirter
