United Airlines has asked for permission to restore a historic intra-Asia Fifth Freedom route it inherited from Pan Am and retired in 2017.
United Wants To Fly Cargo Between Hong Kong And Singapore…And Maybe Passengers Too
Back in the day, Pan Am 21/22 flew from Los Angeles to Tokyo to Hong Kong to Singapore. In 1985, United purchased Pan Am’s Pacific unit, opening up East Asia and Australia.
In 2014, I flew United Airlines the long way from Los Angeles to Hong Kong, via Tokyo Narita, Singapore. At the time, United still had a number of Fifth Freedom flights within Asia and a hub in Tokyo Narita.
But with a new generation of aircraft like the Boeing 787, such intra-Asia flights became unnecessary. In 2017, United began nonstop service between San Francisco and Singapore. In doing so, it ended its historic service between Hong Kong and Singapore.
But the pandemic has led to many interesting routes and Paxex.areo noticed that United wants to restore service on this 1,587-mile route. In a DOT filing dated May 5, 2020, United asked to be allowed the “foreign air transportation of persons, property and mail between Hong Kong and Singapore.” It plans to operate the service daily, utilize a Boeing 777-300ER, and begin service on May 10th.
Initially, United plans to operate the flight only as a cargo route. Yet its filing leaves open the possibility for a return to passengers service on this route:
Depending upon the rebound in passenger traffic, United may commence passenger service at a future date.
Back To The Past?
Even the thought of re-introducing this route is an interesting change from the mentality of prioritizing nonstop flights that has sunk in over the last several years.
With both demand and oil prices low, the incentive to fly nonstop diminishes. Serving Singapore through Hong Kong suddenly becomes a smart way to sustain service to both cities while not adding an unnecessary supply of seats via duplicative nonstop service to both cities from the USA.
We’ve seen this a bit in the States and we may well see it in Asia, Europe, South America, or Australia as well. Might we see the return of UA839 from Los Angeles to Melbourne via Sydney? Or perhaps service from Washington to Brussels via London, as we saw with UA938?
I would love to see a return of Fifth Freedom routes like this.
CONCLUSION
Thus far, United will only operate cargo service between Hong Kong and Singapore. But if demand slowly picks up but not to the level to justify nonstops between Singapore and the USA, look for passenger service on this historic Fifth Freedom route.
Years ago there were few “point to point” international flights one has to look no further than Pan Am #1 and #2 essentially round the world flights all meeting up in Asia. I think for once UA is making a smart move and could be something that will come back again especially given the uncertain future of international travel
Pan American World Airways folded in 1991, two years after Federal Express absorbed the Flying Tiger Line, which had also been awarded Fifth Freedom rights following World War II.
Northwest Airlines, the third of the original trans-Pacific carriers to be awarded Fifth Freedom rights, operated many intra-Asia routes from their large Narita hub. There were flight attendant bases in Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, Taipei, Bangkok, Manila and Singapore to staff those flights. When I flew for Northwest I was often the only American cabin crew member onboard an intra-Asia flight; my colleagues were all citizens of various Asian countries. (Northwest required that the lead flight attendant/purser be U.S. based.)
Many of Northwest’s Asia flights involved a change of gauge, originating in the States as a 747, DC10 or A330 and in Tokyo connecting with, say, a 757 to Nagoya.
United and Delta chose to abandon invaluable Fifth Freedom rights in favor of non-stop Pacific flights from the States, so I find it interesting that these two companies may now change their thinking.
It is actually much more fuel efficient to add a stop on a long haul route than to fly direct, as a non-stop’s fuel savings of not having to climb to altitude again (much of which is negated by the long glide into the the midway airport anyway) is vastly less significant than the cost of having to carry the fuel for the entire second half of the flight for the first half. The only reason to fly direct is because passengers demand it, but it’s less fuel efficient to do so. If the main transport need is cargo, it doesn’t make sense to fly direct.
938 and 839 were not 5th freedom routes as UA did not have local passenger rights on those routes.
Yes they did. I flew it myself.
Were they able to take passengers on at LHR? Airline can be allowed to fly passengers direct, IAD-BRU with stop in LHR, but not be allowed to fly passengers just LHR-BRU.
We used to have an interesting one out of our region. First, World Airways had it with BWI-LGW-FRA on a DC-10 for a few years. Later it switched to TWA on that same routing with a 767 for another few years in the late 80’s. I actually flew the TWA flight a few times to FRA, with that dreaded stop at LGW, back in my college days. Surprisingly it was constantly full. Eventually BA took over and FRA was, obviously, eliminated. I can’t recall if they were true 5th freedom flights though in selling seats on the LGW-FRA legs.
The other odd one was the old Swissair flight to IAD from Zurich that stopped in Boston. That was always a fun one! They used either a 747-300 or an MD-11, and because they could not sell seats on the domestic it was always mostly empty from BOS-IAD. The feeling of that plane taking off with hardly any passengers or fuel was something to behold.
“The feeling of that plane taking off with hardly any passengers or fuel was something to behold.”
The short domestic leg aboard Lufthansa’s DC10 from Philadelphia to Boston and Frankfurt was similarly eerie. I took that flight regularly for work in the early 80’s and was a few times one of only a handful of passengers boarding in Philly.
Oh, those old Lufthansa DC10’s. They used to fly them from IAD to FRA as well. I remember being on one right after the United DC10 accident in Iowa. A woman was upset to find she was on a DC10 as the press had been all over the idea they were unsafe. The flight attendant said to her across the aisle, “M’am, do no worry, there is a difference, this is a Lufthansa DC10.” Retro shade handed down before there was Star Alliance, lol.
I recall it as one of my first business class flights ever (I used my dad’s miles). I was so impressed. Now, if you ever saw it you would run screaming. In retrospect it was horrid!
If they are not selling tickets to boarding passengers at the intermediate stop, it is not a Fifth Freedom flight.
Emirates from Dubai to Athens and on to New York is an example. The airline can sell Athens to New York, Dubai to Athens or Dubai to New York
No way, really? Lol.
“I can’t recall if they were true 5th freedom flights though in selling seats on the LGW-FRA legs.”
Per the ICAO website Fifth Freedom Rights are not defined by transportation of passengers.
“Fifth Freedom of The Air – the right or privilege, in respect of scheduled international air services, granted by one State to another State to put down and to take on, in the territory of the first State, traffic coming from or destined to a third State (also known as a Fifth Freedom Right).”
https://www.icao.int/Pages/freedomsAir.aspx
Correct. I’m not sure I argued otherwise? The Fifth Freedom route would resume whether United starts cargo operations or passenger operations…it just hasn’t decided yet whether to do either.
Passenger demand is nearly zero and they’re flying other cargo only routes elsewhere.They just need more cargo routes so they can actually make money. this will only be a drop in the bucket.
With Cathay Pacific’s woes, I doubt the Chinese/HK governments will allow United to operate a passenger fifth freedom route from Hong Kong to a major city like Singapore.
The example of Sydney to Melbourne is NOT a fifth freedom route (flying between two points in different foreign countries on a route beginning/ending in the airline’s home country), it’s cabotage. This route seems much more likely, with no right to transport passengers solely between SYD-MEL. With Virgin Australia’s bankruptcy and all the talk of how there needs to be a second Australian airline to keep Qantas in check, there will probably be no opposition to transpacific competition from MEL.
In 1970 I took PAA 1 from DEL to HKG TAi Tak airport. Where final was between apartment buildings. The flight had stops in BKK and SIN where we visited.
We were in the lobby of the Interecontinental Hotel Waiting for our transfer to the DEL airport when the crew assembled there also for our flight at 4:30 in the morning. We were young and the Captain asked if we would like to ride with them to the airport.
We declined saying we had a transfer booked which never did show. Could this happen today, no. The plane was a BA707-300 Intercontinental
Being rather bored tonight this post called me to remember some more crazy 5th freedom flights I remember from my youth in the 80’s. 5th freedom being loosely defined, of course. More like piggyback flights on to second markets, often to work around restrictions.
My parents in the early 80’s used to fly from BWI to London via Bermuda. BA used to do it with an L-1011.
I recall as well a BA flight from London to Mexico City that stopped in New Orleans.
The Bermuda Agreement in the 70’s between the U.S. and U.K. established some odd workarounds. Would make a great retro post one day, Matthew.
Being a teenage avgeek in the 80’s was lonely. But it sure was an exciting time.
With the amount of competition on the SIN-HKG route and with superior airlines in CX and SQ plying the route, I just don’t see how people will fly UA. The route will only operate if cargo rates justify it, cos as a passenger flight it will never make money. Impression of UA post David Dao in Asia is below that of budget carriers and it will remain so.
CX and SQ can easily charge upwards of £1500 for an HKG-SIN roundtrip so all United will have to do is charge half price.
Stop playing games forget about the virus it’s time to soar around the earth my friends we are united