The cheapest way to redeem Singapore Airlines’ A380 suites is to take a break from the network as the airline replaces its daily superjumbo flight to Hong Kong with a Boeing 777-300ER for the winter season.
It seems that hardly a week goes by without Singapore Airlines changing the flight schedules of its flagship Airbus A380. Today, another negative change was confirmed: the airline will remove this type from its Hong Kong route for most of the coming winter season.
Flights SQ892/893 will now operate from late October 2024 to late March 2025 with the four-class Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, with the exception of a two-week window in late January during the Chinese New Year holidays, when the superjumbo will make a brief appearance on the route.
The change comes as no surprise. Back in mid-June, we noted that the airline had limited the sale of first-class seats on these flights to four, a clear sign that a downsizing of the 777 was planned.
The news comes as Shanghai will also lose its promised daily A380 flight during the same period, leaving SIA with only five cities is offering a continuous superjumbo service this winter.
A380s to be withdrawn from Hong Kong this winter
SIA’s regular daily Airbus A380 flight to Hong Kong (SQ892/893) will now with four-class Boeing 777-300ER aircraftbetween 27 October 2024 and 29 March 2025.
An exception – as we also predicted due to continued sales of up to six First Class seats – will be during the Chinese New Year holidays in late January 2025, when Airbus A380s will briefly return to this service for a two-week window.
This is what the revised flight schedule for Hong Kong now looks like, with six daily flights during the coming northern winter season, including Former A380 services now also planned for the Boeing 777-300ERand those keep the superjumbo for a short time.
Singapore Hong Kong
27 October 2024 – 29 March 2025
All lines operate daily
| Airplane | Dates | |||
 |
SQ874 |
359 LH A350LH |
All | |
| SIN 07:35 |
Hong Kong 11:20 |
|||
|
SQ882 |
359 LH A350LH |
All | |
| SIN 08:25 |
Hong Kong 12:25 |
|||
|
SQ892 |
77W 777-300ER |
27 October – 15 January 1 February – 29 March |
|
| SIN 09:55 |
Hong Kong 13:55 |
388 A380 |
16 January – 31 January | |
|
SQ894 |
359 MH A350M |
All | |
| SIN 13:10 |
Hong Kong 17:10 |
|||
|
SQ896 |
359 MH A350M |
All | |
| SIN 15:30 |
Hong Kong 19:30 |
|||
|
SQ898 |
359 MH A350M |
All | |
| SIN 18:55 |
Hong Kong 22:45 |
|||
Hong Kong Singapore
27 October 2024 – 29 March 2025
All lines operate daily
| Airplane | Dates | |||
|
SQ897 |
359 MH A350M |
All | |
| Hong Kong 08:00 |
SIN 12:00 |
|||
|
SQ899 |
359 MH A350M |
All | |
| Hong Kong 09:05 |
SIN 13:05 |
|||
|
SQ875 |
359 LH A350LH |
All | |
| Hong Kong 12:30 |
SIN 16:30 |
|||
|
SQ883 |
359 LH A350LH |
All | |
| Hong Kong 14:10 |
SIN 18:10 |
|||
|
SQ893 |
77W 777-300ER |
27 October – 15 January 1 February – 29 March |
|
| Hong Kong 15:45 |
SIN 19:50 |
388 A380 |
16 January – 31 January | |
|
SQ895 |
359 MH A350M |
All | |
| Hong Kong 18:50 |
SIN 22:50 |
|||
As you can see, except for a two-week period in January 2025, this route will use the Boeing 777-300ER, i.e. older First Class seats (not suites) from 2013 and Business Class seats from 2013.
(Photo: Shutterstock)
Suite passengers are most affected
This change is not a gigantic Offer for those who have booked in Business Class, Premium Economy or Economy Class. If you have secured a Suites Award or spent money on this exclusive cabin, you now have the alternative seat is not quite at eye level.
For suite passengers who have already booked on the affected flights SQ892/893, this means a different experience from now on…
in addition…
This is obviously quite a downgrade and should perhaps make you think about whether the mileage or money spent on this cabin is still worth it.
Unfortunately, there are no suite alternatives on the Hong Kong route on the affected dates.
However, we are still convinced by the 2013 First Class product installed on Boeing 777-300ERs, so you shouldn’t write it off completely. You can read our review of the product here.
In Business Class, the impact is less problematic, as the newer 2017 seats on the A380 are being replaced by the 2013 seats on the 777-300ER, as they are quite similar in most respects.
(Photos: MainlyMiles)
The A380 will return to Hong Kong at the end of March 2025
According to Singapore Airlines’ current flight schedule, continuous daily Airbus A380 service is expected to resume in northern Hong Kong in the 2025 summer season.
Unless otherwise agreed, the flight schedule for next summer will be as follows, with superjumbo service restored on flights SQ892/893.
Singapore Hong Kong
30 March 2025 – 25 October 2025
All lines operate daily
| Airplane | Dates | |||
|
SQ874 |
359 LH A350LH |
All | |
| SIN 07:35 |
Hong Kong 11:20 |
|||
|
SQ882 |
359 MH A350M |
All | |
| SIN 08:40 |
Hong Kong 12:40 |
|||
|
SQ892 |
388 A380 |
All | |
| SIN 09:40 |
Hong Kong 13:55 |
|||
|
SQ894 |
359 LH A350LH |
All | |
| SIN 13:05 |
Hong Kong 17:05 |
|||
|
SQ896 |
359 MH A350M |
All | |
| SIN 15:30 |
Hong Kong 19:40 |
|||
|
SQ898 |
359 MH A350M |
All | |
| SIN 19:00 |
Hong Kong 22:45 |
|||
Hong Kong Singapore
30 March 2025 – 25 October 2025
All lines operate daily
| Airplane | Dates | |||
|
SQ897 |
359 MH A350M |
All | |
| Hong Kong 08:00 |
SIN 11:45 |
|||
|
SQ899 |
359 MH A350M |
All | |
| Hong Kong 09:05 |
SIN 13:00 |
|||
|
SQ875 |
359 LH A350LH |
All | |
| Hong Kong 12:25 |
SIN 16:20 |
|||
|
SQ883 |
359 MH A350M |
All | |
| Hong Kong 14:25 |
SIN 18:20 |
|||
|
SQ893 |
388 A380 |
All | |
| Hong Kong 15:40 |
SIN 19:35 |
|||
|
SQ895 |
359 LH A350LH |
All | |
| Hong Kong 18:50 |
SIN 22:40 |
|||
KrisFlyer Rewards
Here you will find the latest KrisFlyer award fares for Singapore – Hong Kong, including First Class/Suite cabins where available.
| KrisFlyer redemption Singapore ⇄ Hong Kong |
||
| saver | Advantage | |
| Business | 16,500 | 30,000 |
| Premium economy | 26,500 | n/a |
| Business | 34,000 | 50,000 |
| First / Suites | 45,000 | 73,000 |
In Hong Kong, the cheapest KrisFlyer miles you can redeem for Airbus A380 suites and Business Class cabin products are 45,000 and 34,000 miles respectively.
It is therefore a shame that this option will be removed for most of the coming winter months, especially as A380 flights to Shanghai will also be suspended during the same period, leaving Delhi and Mumbai as the cheapest A380 flights.
SIA’s A380 flight schedule for this winter
This is what Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A380 flight schedule looks like for the upcoming winter season, based on the GDS flight schedules as of August 12, 2024.
| SIA Winter 24/25 A380 flights (provisional) |
||
| route | Flights | frequency |
| Delhi | SQ406/403 | 7 x weekly |
| Frankfurt (except 26 Dec, 15-31 January) |
SQ326/325 | 7 x weekly |
| Hong Kong (16-31 January only) |
SQ892/893 | 7 x weekly |
| London | SQ322/317 SQ308/319 |
7 x weekly 7 x weekly |
| Mumbai | SQ424/423 | 7 x weekly |
| Shanghai (15-31 January only) |
SQ830/833 | 7 x weekly |
| Sydney | SQ221/232 SQ231/222 |
7 x weekly 7 x weekly |
This is a very limited list for SIA’s 12 Airbus A380s. only five cities (Delhi, Frankfurt, London, Mumbai and Sydney) with continuous superjumbo service this winter.
A temporary two-week withdrawal of the A380 from Frankfurt flights at the end of January 2025 appears to support the temporary reintroduction of this type at the CNY peak on the Hong Kong and Shanghai routes, even if this measure is only short-lived.
The probable cause is aircraft downtime. SIA’s ageing Airbus A380s have recently spent a lot of time in the hangar due to numerous maintenance requirements and airworthiness directives, which is already leading to flight schedule changes in the current summer season.
(Photo: Singapore Airlines)
SIA recently flew one of its A380s (9V-SKT) empty for 13.5 hours for maintenance to Teruel, Spain, while at the time of writing two more A380s (-SKQ and -SKY) are in the hangar in Singapore, reducing the superjumbo fleet currently in service to just nine aircraft.
Full schedules for the winter season will be finalized in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for the latest details as we get them.
As we expect, Singapore Airlines will remove its Airbus A380 from the daily Hong Kong flight in the coming winter season from late October 2024 to late March 2025 and instead operate a four-class Boeing 777-300ER on this route.
This is bad news for those who booked a suite cabin, as most of them will now be sitting in the less exciting (but still good) first class seats of 2013.
For those lucky enough to have already booked for this period, there will still be two weeks of A380 operations on this service between 16 and 31 January 2025, during the Chinese holidays.
Despite the withdrawal of the A380 from this route, its return on Hong Kong flights SQ892/893 is planned from the start of the summer season at the end of March 2025.
(Cover photo: Aircraft Portrait Aviation Media / Malcolm Lu)
