Singapore Airlines has finally increased flights on its Singapore to London Gatwick route, a move that it has been looking at for some time now. The route was launched in June 2024. In an interview with me celebrating a year of flights to the English airport, the company’s Regional Vice President for Europe, Joey Seow, said that its growth was constrained by a lack of aircraft.

It seems some of that capacity restriction has been alleviated. Singapore Airlines has now filed 10x weekly flights between Singapore and Gatwick from the end of this month. This will rise further to double daily from 3 July, schedules filed to aviation analytics firm Cirium show. The airline currently operates a daily rotation.

Singapore Airlines is adding frequencies to its Gatwick operation this summer

The Singaporean flag carrier’s London flights will reach six daily, of which four are from London Heathrow. The increases have been welcomed by aviation analysts as a longer-term measure in light of the recent conflict in the Gulf which has disrupted traffic between Europe and Asia.

The initial addition of 3x weekly flights will depart Singapore late at night, arriving in Gatwick just before 10:00. The return services will leave England at around midday, though the times vary depending on the day. The daily frequency added from the 03 July also land in Gatwick at around 10:00 most days, departing at around the same time as well.

The airline’s existing daily frequency lands in Gatwick at 06:25, departing back to Singapore at 10:00. In other words, there’s a roughly two to three hour difference between the existing and additional frequencies.

Schedule data suggests the carrier could offer onward connections to Melbourne on the additional frequencies, as well as other cities in Southeast Asia including Manila, Cebu, Taipei and Bangkok. That said, its existing daily operation aligns better for connecting flights.

Singapore Airlines’ London flights will reach 6 daily

The new frequencies to Gatwick mean that during the peak summer period in July and August, Singapore Airlines will offer a substantial amount of capacity to London.

On a weekly basis, the carrier will offer 14,000 seats each way, driven in large part by the two daily Airbus A380s that it flies to Heathrow. The superjumbos will provide around 6,500 seats each way.

Loads on the route have been really strong

Looking at information from the UK Civil Aviation Authority, Singapore Airlines’ Gatwick flights have been filled to the brim. On average last year, the carrier’s load factor on the route stood at around 84% – and that includes data for the typically weaker winter months.

The company has been looking to add more capacity to London for some time now. When I spoke to Regional Vice President for Europe, Joey Seow in an interview last year, he noted that the route was performing well and said that it would be “unwise for us not to continue to grow the market” with additional frequencies.

“To be very candid with you, our planning horizon is being controlled by Boeing and Airbus.,” he had told me at the time.

Featured image: Christian Palent | stock.adobe.com

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