Summary
- British Airways will return the A380 on Heathrow-Singapore in April, providing 113% more seats per flight.
- It means Singapore Airlines, Qantas, Emirates, and British Airways will all use the quadjet to Changi.
- They will have 13 daily flights to eight destinations.
Four airlines will use the Airbus A380 to Singapore beginning next April, one more than now. It will be the first time in 49 months that Changi – among the world’s top widebody airports – has had four or more operators of the double-decker quadjet. The last time was in March 2020, when there were five. This is the latest information as of September 28th and is subject to change.
British Airways returns in April
While it is not news as it has been known for a while, British Airways is bringing back the A380 on its daily London Heathrow-Singapore service (not its fifth-freedom service to Sydney). The four-class, 469-seat equipment will arrive at Changi on April 1st – no joke. It will be the first time since March 2020 that the oneworld carrier used the equipment there.
It will be on BA11 outbound, leaving London Heathrow at 19:30 and arriving in Singapore at 16:05+1. Returning, BA12 will leave at 23:20 and return at 06:15+1.
Photo: Jarek Kilian/Shutterstock
The A380 will replace the 216-seat Boeing 787-9, providing 113% more seats for sale per flight. When combined with BA’s other daily Singapore service (which continues to Australia), Heathrow-Singapore seats will rise by 54% daily.
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Makes four A380 operators at Changi
When BA is combined with existing carriers Singapore Airlines, Emirates, and Qantas, Changi will have as many A380 users as Sydney. Still, neither will surpass the six at Los Angeles and Heathrow.
Photo: IanC66/Shutterstock
Schedule analysis shows that Singapore will have 13 daily A380 departing flights in April. Only Dubai (74 daily) and London Heathrow (22) will have more. Due to Singapore Airlines’ 12-strong fleet of A380s (some remain parked), it has far more departures than Sydney (nine daily) and Los Angeles (about eight, but it varies).
13 daily flights to eight destinations
Obviously, the vast majority of the flights are by Singapore Airlines (nine daily), then Qantas (double daily), Emirates (daily; down from the current double daily, but this may change), and BA (daily). Qantas has departures to both London Heathrow and Sydney each day, among the world’s longest one-stop routes.
|
April flights |
Singapore to… |
Carrier |
Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Double daily |
Heathrow |
Singapore Airlines |
|
|
Sydney |
Singapore Airlines |
||
|
Daily |
Delhi |
Singapore Airlines |
|
|
Dubai |
Emirates |
Double daily ends on March 31st (for now) |
|
|
Frankfurt |
Singapore Airlines |
A380 returns on March 31st |
|
|
Heathrow |
British Airways |
A380 returns from Singapore on April 1st |
|
|
Heathrow |
Qantas |
||
|
Hong Kong |
Singapore Airlines |
The world’s eighth-shortest A380 route in April |
|
|
Mumbai |
Singapore Airlines |
||
|
Shanghai Pudong |
Singapore Airlines |
A380 ends on October 9th and returns on January 4th |
|
|
Sydney |
Qantas |
What do you make of it all? Let us know in the comments.
Sources of information: OAG, Google Flights, ch-aviation.