Singapore Airlines to operate a record number of weekly services to Europe this November, with the airline planning to fly to 15 cities on the continent, which will include a new destination and frequency increase to three others. At a city-pair level, the largest capacity and frequency will be seen on the London – Singapore market, as the carrier is taking advantage to fill the capacity vacuum left by the reduced operations of the Middle Eastern carriers.

With data showing an average of 18 daily departures to Europe, this article will look at the airline’s entire European route network for this Winter, as it continues to expand.

Europe Expansion: 128 Weekly Departures

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This Winter season, Europe is scheduled to see 128 Singapore Airlines weekly departures heading to 15 cities, marking the highest number of flights the airline has operated to the continent ever. Schedule data from Cirium indicates that this is achieved by three routes, seeing a frequency increase, while also making a change to its network, which would see the carrier return to the Spanish city of Madrid for the first time since 2004.

The airline’s European network consists of an overlapping combination of high-yield destinations and destinations that serve as a hub for fellow Star Alliance members, which boosts the airline’s secondary network, which it can offer to its passengers. The following will be the airline’s schedule to Europe this Winter:

As seen above, the airline’s operations to Europe this Winter will have eight additional weekly services, while making flights to Barcelona direct, and adding tagging Madrid with it, marking the return of the airline to the Spanish capital. The airline’s senior network planner, Behramjee Ghadially, states:

“Singapore Airlines is bullish in forecasting that passengers bound between Europe and Australasia will prefer to fly via an airport that is not in the Gulf. It is also taking advantage of high volume and high yield destinations in Europe to further expanding its network.”

Adding Capacity On Singapore – London City Pair

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With the airline currently operating a total of 35 weekly flights to London, split between seven services to London Gatwick Airport (LGW) and the remaining 28 to London Heathrow Airport (LHR), the city is clearly important to the airline. However, with the newly launched second service to LGW, the airline’s weekly frequency will be a record 38 flights. This is without considering the three additional services operated on this route by British Airways and Qantas, which add a further 21 flights a week between London and Singapore.

A key reason for the airlines deploying additional capacity could be attributed to the reduction in frequency or capacity deployed by the Middle Eastern carriers on their services from their hubs to London and Singapore, due to the ongoing regional conflict. That being said, both LHR and Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) were among the very few airports to which all three airlines, Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways operated A380 flights to, which is indicative of the importance of these markets and the demand the airlines saw between them.

Due to the slot constraints at Heathrow, it would have been easier for Singapore Airlines to add flights to Gatwick. That being said, two of the airline’s daily services to Heathrow see the high-capacity Airbus A380. British Airways is also planning to increase its capacity on this route by shifting one of its two daily services to Singapore to an A380. Therefore, among the three airlines operating on the SIN – LHR route, there will be four daily A380 operations in either direction (two from Singapore, one each from British Airways and Qantas).

A Strategic European Route Network

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Due to Singapore’s geographic location and its ability to act as a major aviation hub in the region, its home carrier, Singapore Airlines, is in a unique position to connect East Asia and the Australasia region to Europe. That being said, the carrier has been strategic in selecting which cities and airports to serve.

Some routes, such as London Heathrow and Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG), have been selected purely due to the high yields and passenger demand. However, other routes, such as Frankfurt and Zurich, also boost the airline’s secondary network connectivity, due to the airports being home to fellow Star Alliance members and airline partners such as Lufthansa and SWISS Airlines. With the help of these partner airlines, the carrier can offer its passengers better connectivity within Europe and beyond, from the few limited and profitable gateways the airline flies to.

Furthermore, due to the hub-and-spoke nature of Singapore Airlines’ route network, a growth in one market usually sees a synergistic growth in an alternate market as well. In this case, the winter expansion to the airline’s European network will align with the growth seen on the airline’s Australian market. As of March, the airline operates a record of up to 23 daily flights to Australia, as Singapore acts as an important transit point (outside the Middle East) for the high-demand Australia – Europe market.