Each week, airlines submit schedule changes to Cirium Diio, OAG, etc. In the latest update, Singapore Airlines disclosed that it’ll fly the Airbus A380 to Melbourne again. It’ll now have two superjumbo routes to Australia.

This development came soon after the Star Alliance member revealed that it was temporarily pulling the type from its Dubai route. The A380 was due to replace the Boeing 777-300ER on March 29, but the war in Iran means that this has been pushed back to May 2. Depending on the evolving situation in the Gulf, this could change again.

Singapore Airlines’ A380s To Melbourne

Credit: GCMap

On March 29, in just a few days’ time, the double-decker quadjet will return to Melbourne. The lack of notice suggests that the airline has simply switched the frame that was to fly from Dubai to the Australian state of Victoria instead. Due to the continuing challenges of passengers flying via Gulf hubs, this capacity boost will help the airline to increase its market share.

The carrier’s latest schedule indicates that the type will operate daily to Melbourne through to October 24. If the A380 is indeed used to Dubai on May 2, it’ll be good to see what else, if anything, is removed or reduced to enable the A380 to fly to Melbourne.

Singapore Airlines, which was the launch customer of the A380, has a long history of flying the equipment to Victoria. The type operated a total of 3,072 departures on the route. It was deployed to Melbourne, which covers 3,253 nautical miles (6,025 km) each way, between 2009 and 2020, although some months had no flights. The type returned in 2023, when it operated between May and November. Now it is coming back.

Singapore Airlines’ Melbourne Schedule In April

Credit: Vincenzo Pace

When all equipment is included, Singapore Airlines will have five daily passenger flights to Melbourne in April. That’s the usual frequency. At the airport level, it will be the carrier’s most-served long-haul destination. However, at the city level, London will surpass it, with up to six daily flights.

As the following table shows, the carrier will use the A380 on SQ237 from Singapore to Melbourne and SQ228 back. When all the airline’s superjumbo services on the route are considered, it has been used on these specific flights 44% of the time. While the 1:45 am departure revolves around passengers arriving from across Asia, rather than from Europe, the 9:20 pm arrival back in Changi connects to multiple European cities.

Until the latest schedule update, the 264-seat 777-300ER was down to operate SQ237/SQ228. Switching to the 471-seat A380 means 78% more seats for sale. The route will have the airline’s six first-class suites again. Meanwhile, the swap means an additional 63% more business seats, 57% more premium economy seats, and 86% more economy seats. When all five daily flights are considered, switching to the A380 means round-trip seats for sale in April have risen by 17% to 90,564.

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Eight Daily A380 Flights In April

Credit: Flickr

The latest schedule shows that Singapore Airlines plans eight daily A380 departures from Changi in April. Given the swap from Dubai to Melbourne, that is the same frequency that was planned last week. It’ll fly to Delhi (daily), Frankfurt (daily), London Heathrow (two daily), Melbourne (daily), Mumbai (daily), and Sydney (two daily).

Eight daily departures equates to 240 outbound services in April (double for both directions). Schedule analysis shows that it will be Singapore Airlines’ highest offering in April since 2019. The record was held in April 2017, when 13 to 14 daily departures existed (392). Multiple frames have been removed since then.