SIA backs two-stop flights as Manchester gets A350 boost

It upgraded the flight it operates under fifth-freedom rights.

Singapore Airlines Ltd. deepened its commitment to two-stop flights after deploying the world’s newest wide-body jet on services that call in at Manchester, northern England, en route to Houston, Texas. The Asian carrier this week upgraded the flight, which it operates under so-called fifth-freedom rights, to Airbus Group SE’s A350-900 jet, of which it has only 10 in the fleet, from Boeing Co.’s older 777-300ER.

Singapore Air also serves New York via Frankfurt and will fly to Stockholm with a stop in Moscow from May. There may be scope for adding other such routes, Sheldon Hee, its general manager for the U.K. and Ireland, said in an interview. Fifth-freedom flights, once a mainstay of long-haul operations, have become comparatively rare since longer-range aircraft opened up direct trips between most major population centers from the early 1980s. For Singapore Air, the two-city combinations help boost seat occupancy as it vies with Mideast carriers such as Emirates that serve most of the world via hubs in the Persian Gulf, and a new class of low-cost operators including Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA.

Read full story here.

The people you want to reach are already in this room.

Every quarter, SBR lands on the desks of the founders, CFOs, and directors running Asia's most consequential companies. Every day, they open our newsletter and read our website. It's a room that took twenty years to build — and it's the one most of our partners are trying to get into.

The good news is that the door is open. We work with companies on thought leadership articles, sponsored content, industry summits across Southeast Asia, regional awards programmes, podcasts, and media placements in print and digital. The shape of the right partnership depends on what you're trying to do, which is why we'd rather start with a conversation than send a rate card.

If you have something this room should know about, tell us. We'll tell you honestly whether we can help, and how.

No rate cards until we understand the brief. It's a better use of everyone's time.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia