Singapore Airlines announced it would resume nonstop service between Newark and Singapore this October. The 9,534 miles, 19-hour, polar route will be operated by an A350 with only business class and premium economy onboard.
The Airbus A350-900ULR will have 161 seats in total, with 67 in business class and 94 in premium economy. Singapore suspended this route in 2013, previously operating it with an A340-500 with 100 seats, all business class.
Singapore has released the flight schedule for its new flight, which will once again reclaim the title of world’s longest route. The flight will operate 3x weekly for the first week (Monday, Thursday and Saturday), as Singapore awaits delivery of its next A350-900ULR. Starting on October 18th, the flight will operate daily:
Northern Summer (11 October 2018 to 27 October 2018)
| Flight Number | Days of Operation | Time of Departure | Time of Arrival |
|---|---|---|---|
| SQ22 Singapore-Newark | Daily*(see above) | 2335 | 0600 (+1) |
| SQ21 Newark-Singapore | Daily*(see above) | 1045 | 1730 (+1) |
Northern Winter (28 October 2018 to 30 March 2019)
| Flight Number | Days of Operation | Time of Departure | Time of Arrival |
|---|---|---|---|
| SQ22 Singapore-Newark | Daily | 0040 | 0530 |
| SQ21 Newark-Singapore | Daily | 0945 | 1715 (+1) |
Award Space
Award space has now been loaded on the new route, and it isn’t cheap. Premium economy appears only to be offered at the saver level, while business class has two tiers: saver and standard:
- Premium economy (saver): 70,000 miles one-way
- Business class (saver): 92,000 miles one-way
- Business class (standard / “Advantage”): 135,000 miles one-way
The 22K premium for business class is a no-brainer…BUT I have not seen saver business class space available a single day on the calendar. I’d say 135K is still worthwhile if you need the nonstop flight and want to use miles, but we will see if any saver business class space opens in the coming days.
I tend to doubt it, though. Perhaps we will see it on a smattering of dates in the months ahead, but Singapore likely hopes it can sell out space on this route and will hold back on releasing award seats.
Premium Economy:
Business Class:
CONCLUSION
I’ve flown the ~18hr flight from Los Angeles to Singapore nonstop twice now. It is a very long flight. This one is even longer. Part of me would rather take the JFK-SIN Singapore flight with the ground stop in Frankfurt just to break up the trip. What do you think?
Even in the most luxurious accommodations spending over 18 hours, likely more, on a plane sounds awful. A 2 or 3 hour break to regain sanity would be most welcome anywhere. Get off in FRA, grab a shower at a lounge(maybe), a beer, pretzel etc…
I understand being in a hurry but being stuck on a metal tube for the better part of a day is brutal.
Very useful info! I am thinking about changing my JFK-FRA-SIN to this one and now will look no further 🙂
for sure, the layover lounge time is something to look forward to.
I took this a few times when it was an A340, all J seats. It was great ( Morning ex Sin for early evening into EWR). But I don’t like the timing of the new one ( midnight departure from SIN, defeats the purpose a bit…with a mid morning arrival it’s not as though much work is possible on that day).
Will there be enough demand in the NYC market to fill an A380 and an A350 on a daily basis? Keep in mind that United is flying folks to LAX and SFO from all over the USA to meet up with their non stops.
United also has been aggressive on price. A quick look for fall RT non stop on United spotted a $599 RT SFO to SIN and it departs in the PM and not mid morning like SIA.
I got a chance to fly non stop SIN to LAX. on United using Kris Fler points. I booked it on SIA website after the revamp. I consider myself lucky. United has now disappeared from the SIA. Website when you select Star alliance option.
Hated United’s coach seat. I will not make that mistake again. Singapore airlines has a much better experience across the board in all classes.
What Singapore Airlines lacks is a good feeder to their USA hubs. Check in with luggage at United at Palm Beach International airport and collect it in Singapore. United and SIA might belong to Star Alliance but the don’t play well with each other in the USA market.
I love Singapore airlines but they are being pushed out of the USA market. Adding a couple more planes is not going to change that.
I hate the idea that United will be the option from the USA.
If I weren’t going to take the nonstop from EWR, I would definitely choose to fly CX from New York to SIN or almost anyplace else in Asia, over the SQ one stop via FRA.
CX gives you a much wider range of flight options from NYC — including later flights from two different NYC airports — and gives you a full night sleep before having to transit in much nicer HKG, as opposed to getting a half-night sleep before being woken up in awful FRA.
CX can get you from NYC to SIN in about the same time as the SQ JFK-FRA, but gets you much more quickly, and with one less stop, to almost anyplace in other place in Asia (ex-SIN). And this doesn’t even consider that you can redeem a CX J seat for only 70K miles, and have four flights per day to find an available seat.
My first choice would definitely be the SQ nonstop for NYC-SIN, but barring this option, CX is a no-brainer over SQ. If they want to compete with CX from NYC they are going to need multiple non-stop flights, and I’m thinking this is what the additional A350-9ULRs will ultimately be used for, instead of the initially conceived LAX or GRU.
I agree with Mak about the SQ flight through FRA, which I’ve flown a couple of times. If you’re in R/F/J/whatever, getting off in Frankfurt, going through security, etc. and re-boarding is not a welcome break – it’s just a hassle, tedious, and disruptive.