Singapore Airlines announcedย today that it will be temporarily reducing services across its network due to weak demand arising from the Covid-19 outbreak.
Singapore Airlines’ capacity cuts
Make no mistake, these are some serious capacity cuts. All in all, we’re seeing slightly under 700 flight cancellations from now till end May. I attempted to map the extent of the cancellations below.
Tokyo and Seoul are the hardest hit, with 82 and 78 cancellations respectively. After that comes Taipei and London, with 56 and 44 cancellations. There are some routes that have completely escaped the chop, however, like Istanbul, Newark, and Manila.
Here’s the details on the affected flights and dates.
To the USA
To Europe
To Japan, South Korea, Taiwan
To Australia and New Zealand
To Africa and West Asia
To Southeast Asia
What happens if my flight has been cancelled?
If your flight has been cancelled, Singapore Airlines will be reaching out to assist with re-accommodation, changes, or refunds. All of these will presumably be done free-of-charge.
Where possible, you should be accommodated on another Singapore Airlines flight on the same day. For example, if you were scheduled to fly on SQ26 to Frankfurt on 10 May, you may be placed on SQ326 instead. In a situation where there is only a single Singapore Airlines flight that day, you may be placed on a different carrier in the same cabin. This is where it gets a bit more dicey, because of the obvious pricing differential between Singapore Airlines and its competitors. I imagine the CSOs will be well-briefed on the alternative options to offer, so hear them out and make a decision.
On a separate note, Spontaneous Escapes for March were announced yesterday, and you may already have locked in some redemptions. If your flight has been cancelled, you’ll be able to receive a full refund of the miles notwithstanding the usual “no cancellations” policy governing Spontaneous Escapes. You can also request that the dates be moved, subject to Saver availability.
Conclusion
The airline industry is one of the hardest hit by pandemics, and it’s unsurprising to see Singapore Airlines take steps to stem the bleeding.
If you were affected by the flight cancellations, please sound out below. What alternative options were you presented? What will you be taking?
SIN-BKK
2 May
Original Booking:
SQ974 (A330) on J
New Booking:
SQ976 (A359) on J
thanks for the data point- bkk is probably the easiest to accommodate passengers. i’m wondering what happens with further afield destinations.
CHC SIN Redemption
12 May Biz Saver
Rebooked to 11 May Biz Saver even when website shows on Advantage.
No Compensation for hotels/Car Rental as ticket was reserved and not ticketed.
nice to see they’re willing to open up saver space on other days.
Interesting; we’re booked on the same SQ 298. No notice yet from SIA and you can still book tickets on 12-May, one-way on SQ 298.
Well, not quite fair if they were to ask me to top up to Advantage. Also yea, you can still book tickets on 12 May, no idea why too.
Metal screw found in first-class meal on SIA flight
http://theindependent.sg/metal-screw-found-in-first-class-meal-on-sia-flight/
SIA apologises to first-class Suites passenger who found screw in soup
https://stomp.straitstimes.com/singapore-seen/sia-apologises-to-first-class-suites-passenger-who-found-screw-in-soup
SQ639 on J for 3 booked HND-SIN on 8 May. Got a call from CSO and was not offered any alternative options. Was not advised on same date availability to NRT until I asked. CSO simply pushed a refund to me.
Overall very bad experience as accommodations were bought with non-refundable rates.
Sorry to hear that- was this an award booking or cash booking? Wonder if it makes a diff
SIN-LAX Original Booking on May 6 SQ36 PEY (A350-900ULR) Was initially transferred to a the night flight on the same day (SQ38), but conveyed my concerns of an immediate connecting domestic flight I had out of LAX. Was provided 2 options 1) SQ38 departure on the night of May 5 2) SQ890 with a connecting Cathay flight from HKG-LAX on May 6 Went with option 1. Would have probably be offered a third option of SQ12 on May 6, however I would not have made it for my domestic transfer. Interestingly enough, a search through expertflyer shows the current load… Read more »
SQ637 NRT to SIN on 8 May -> was rebooked to the same flight but on 7 May.
Called in and asked to be rebooked for 9 May instead and it was granted with no additional cost (website shows Advantage even though I paid Saver rates).
15 Apr SQ879 TPE-SIN Biz Saver x 2 cancelled by SQ, SQ auto-rebooked on 15 Apr SQ877
Called in to hotline to request change to 13 Apr SQ879 (only Biz Advantage available). First CSO said unable to do so, have to top up miles. HUCA. Second CSO said unable to do so, will escalate to higher authority.
Today received a call-back from another dept, granted above request with no top-up in miles. Also changed 10 Apr SIN-TPE flight to 9 Apr with no change fee charged.
Not on the list of cancellations but sq215 cancelled on 17 March, I had 5 J seats and they moved us to the morning flight instead
SQ326 on April, 16th, canceled with no options like refund or rebooking.
SQ326 cancelled without an option of rebooking or refund