Singapore Airlines is the world’s 23rd-largest airline for international passenger flights. When only long-haul services are considered, it jumps to 11th place. This reflects its overall scale—it has 149 passenger aircraft, of which 127 are widebodies—and its international-only network.

Between May and December, OAG data shows that the Star Alliance member will serve 81 passenger destinations from its Singapore Changi hub. Additions this year include Hangzhou, Riyadh, and Western Sydney. Four airports are fully or partly served on a one-stop basis: Barcelona (also nonstop), Cape Town (only one-stop), Los Angeles (also nonstop), and New York JFK (also nonstop).

This Is Singapore Airlines’ Longest Route

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Usually, analysis of an operator’s longest services focuses on nonstop activity. However, that misses the one-stop flights, which can, but not always, be even longer. While not pushing technological boundaries, they can often be even more tiring and grueling. This article looks at both. Some may not like this, as it does not compare like with like, but at least it is comprehensive.

Examining Singapore Airlines’ full passenger schedule for May to December reveals that Singapore to New York JFK, via Frankfurt, is its longest route overall. Flights are timed at up to 24h 20m, with this maximum block time taking effect at the end of October. Winter winds contribute to the trip time being extended by 65 minutes compared to the summer. It replaced Singapore to Houston Intercontinental, via Manchester, for the top spot, as that route ended last March.

The carrier has served JFK via Germany for decades, since at least 1992. Flights run daily on the first-class-equipped, 264-seat Boeing 777-300ER, with fifth freedom rights available. The 747-400 was used until 2012, followed by the A380 until 2023. In the superjumbo’s final year, it was the type’s fifth-shortest A380-operated service to the US. But that has long gone. Lufthansa does not even use the double-decker between Munich and JFK anymore.

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Singapore Airlines’ Second To Fifth-Longest Links

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Timed at up to 20h 35m, Los Angeles back to Singapore, via Tokyo Nartia, ranks second. This has been part of its network since 1981, with older-technology equipment necessitating the stopover. Nowadays, despite nonstop flights, the one-stop operation is kept because it performs well, driven by the fifth freedom rights between La La Land and the Japanese capital.

For most of the time, flights have operated daily. The 747-400 and A380 have been used. However, since late 2016, it has been virtually completely in the hands of the 777-300ER, which remains the case today. In the past, Singapore Airlines also had Los Angeles flights that stopped in Taipei (until 2008, and again between 2021 and 2022) and Seoul Incheon (2016-2018).

Now it’s the turn of the nonstop flights. In third place is JFK back to Singapore (up to 19h 15; daily A350-900 ULR), followed by Newark back to Singapore (up to 19h 10m; daily A350-900 ULR), and Los Angeles back to Singapore (10 weekly; A350-900/A350-900ULR; the latter returns in November). As has been discussed many times, JFK back to Changi is the world’s longest nonstop operation in this sense.

As Singapore Airlines typically serves JFK/Newark in different directions (usually over the Pacific to the US and over Europe to Asia), some may say that each sector—which are all exceptionally long—should be counted separately. But as they’re simply different legs of the same route, this has not been done.

Then There’s The Sixth To Tenth-Longest Entries

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In sixth place is San Francisco back to Singapore (up to 17h 30m; twice-daily A350-900/A350-900ULR). Seattle back to Changi is next (up to 17h 00m; five weekly A350-900), followed by Singapore to Barcelona, via Milan Malpensa (up to 16h 35m; three weekly A350-900), Singapore to London Heathrow (up to 14h 30m; four daily A350-900/A380/777-300ER), and Singapore to London Gatwick (up to 14h 30m; up to two daily A350-900). Despite covering more distance, Manchester is not among the top ten entries, largely due to its greater slot availability.

Seattle has seen Singapore Airlines’ frames since September 2019, shortly before the pandemic started. For a spell during COVID-19, flights were tagged with Vancouver. While the capital of British Columbia was removed from the carrier’s network in 2023, Seattle remains. Yet with only five weekly flights, it is the airline’s least-served destination in North America. According to the US Department of Transportation, Seattle had a seat factor of 90.7% last year. It was Singapore Airlines’ best-performing US route in this sense, but it does not consider fares or yields.