As airlines throughout Asia-Pacific began the long road to post-pandemic recovery, the standout performer has been Singapore Airlines. Over the last two years, the full-service carrier has expertly added more capacity in a disciplined way, keeping the two closely matched to drive passenger load factors into the profitable zone.

Stepping up capacity on the Seattle route

Singapore Airlines is continuing the post-Covid era in the same way it navigated its way out of the disastrous lockdowns throughout Asia by adding capacity to routes it already knows will be profitable. Last week, the airline made several changes to its Northern Summer 2025 operations, including advice that it would add more flights between Singapore and Seattle in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.

Singapore Airlines Airbus A350-900 on stand

Photo: Media Works I Shutterstock

According to Mainly Miles, this route debuted in September 2019 with three weekly flights using Airbus A350s but increased to five weekly from March 2020. The arrival of the pandemic ended the service until it returned in December 2021 as part of a Singapore-Vancouver-Seattle-Vancouver-Singapore route.

Related

Singapore Airlines Group Adds Capacity As Traffic Keeps Growing

Overcapacity in North Asia is starting to affect passenger loads at Singapore Airlines and Scoot, although the group has fully recovered post-COVID.

In June 2022, the route was changed to a nonstop Singapore—Seattle flight three times weekly, with high demand sustaining a boost to four times weekly in June 2024. The next iteration starts on May 30, 2025, when Singapore Airlines (SIA) will increase its flights between Singapore and Seattle to five times weekly, with flights from SIN on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Singapore Airlines Airbus A350-900

Photo: Singapore Airlines

This is how the Singapore Airlines route is operating today

On January 25, Singapore Airlines flight SQ28 departed Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) at 10:13 and, after a 14:16-hour flight, landed in Seattle at 08:28. The service was operated with a 2019 Airbus A350-900, registration 9V-SMV and MSN 329, which was first delivered to Singapore Airlines in July 2019.

Singapore SQ28 SIN SEA

The aircraft returned to Singapore as SQ27, departing Seattle Tacoma International Airport (SEA) at 10:35 and arriving at Singapore Changi at 18:13. The next day, it operated a return flight to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and regularly flies on routes from Singapore to Melbourne (MEL), Hong Kong (HKG), Jakarta (CGK), Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) and London Gatwick (LGW).

SIA has the right size aircraft for the Seattle service

Fleet data from ch-aviation shows that Singapore Airlines has a fleet of 159 aircraft, with 16 listed as inactive. SIA has an extensive air cargo operation with 12 freighters, including seven Boeing 747-400FSCD and five 777-200F aircraft. The listing shows that the passenger fleet includes:

  • 58 Airbus A350-900s
  • Seven Airbus A350-900(ULR)s
  • 12 Airbus A380s
  • 16 Boeing 737 MAX 8s
  • Six Boeing 737-800s
  • 22 Boeing 777-300ERs
  • 26 Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners.

The data also lists 56 new aircraft to be delivered, including seven Airbus A350Fs, 13 Boeing 737 MAX 8s, 31 Boeing 777-9s and five Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners. While Singapore Airlines may be waiting some time for the new-generation 777-9s to be delivered from Boeing, it has a substantial fleet of Airbus A350s should demand on the Seattle route keep growing.

When the Seattle service increases in May, Singapore Airlines will operate 57 weekly flights to and from the United States. The schedule for June shows 17 weekly flights to Los Angeles, 14 to New York, 14 to San Francisco, seven to Newark and five to Seattle. Ironically, that will be less than the 61 weekly flights currently flown, as services to Houston will be cut from late March 2025.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *