Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines, why are they restarting Manchester so soon?


It came as quite a surprise to many yesterday to hear that Singapore Airlines are resuming their Manchester service from the middle of July. 

I saw quite a few comments and received a few messages expressing this surprise, so, what has made SQ resume so soon?


History:


Singapore Airlines has served Manchester for over 35 years. In that 35 years, Manchester has seen various alterations to the route. From A310s via Bangkok and Rome, B747s via Zurich, B772’s direct, a B77W via Munich and most recently, and still technically currently, an A350 that continues on to Houston, Texas. 

Manchester has also played host to the airlines A380, but only on divert from London Heathrow. 

Manchester came online for Singapore Airlines after a lengthy battle for the bilateral rights, after London and Prestwick were the only 2 points that were allowed to be served. The data for the route would have been interesting to see back then, as SQ were incredibly determined to serve Manchester.

So as you can see, the history of the route runs deep.


Current situation:


The Manchester and Houston routes have been offline for SQ since early 2020, owing to the covid pandemic. As the U.K. manager stated, it was never an intention to have a break in service like they have had to, but the situation was forced out of their control.

The service resumption will initially run 3 weekly, and to Manchester only. Houston will be brought back online as soon as the conditions allow, but given the U.K. is currently on a ban list for the USA, as well as business traffic being well down on 2019 levels, don’t expect that tag to be resumed until at least November, if not summer 2022.




Why has Singapore Airlines resumed services now?:


The above question is the head scratcher for many. I personally wouldn’t have been surprised if it was summer 2022 before the route resumed. But next month certainly was a surprise.

While Singapore is on the UKs green list for travel, a lot of SQ’s market from the UK is currently inaccessible to that market. Australia and New Zealand are effectively closed until further notice, the islands of Thailand and Indonesia have severe restrictions, Japan doesn’t want many visitors and China, well, good luck trying to enter that country as a foreign national!


So, with passenger demand severely depressed, my guess is that the driver of this route is likely to be cargo, where any passengers carried are merely a bonus. The UK does a lot of trade with the ASEAN area, and in particular, The Hut Group (THG), who are Manchester based have an extensive cargo deal with SQ, to which may be making the flights worth while.


Either way, it’s great to see the route return, it’s another step on the route to recovery and I hope the move pays off for the airline. 

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