Singapore Airlines (SIA) has made the decision to discontinue its fifth-freedom route between Manchester, England, and Houston in order to focus on cost savings and make adjustments to its network. This route, which connected Singapore Changi Airport with Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport via Manchester Airport, will cease operations on April 1, 2025. The service currently runs five times a week using Airbus A350-900 aircraft.
Initially launched in October 2016, the route was suspended for 20 months due to the pandemic before resuming in December 2021. Despite canceling the Manchester-Houston leg, SIA will continue to operate five weekly services between Singapore and Manchester.
In addition to these changes, Singapore Airlines has announced plans to increase frequencies on several European routes during the summer 2025 season. Flights to London Gatwick Airport will become daily starting March 30, complementing the carrier’s existing 4X-daily flights to London Heathrow Airport. Frequencies to Rome Fiumicino Airport will also rise from 4X to 5X-weekly from June 26 to Aug. 28.
Furthermore, the airline will delink its Singapore-Milan-Barcelona flights and offer nonstop services between Singapore and Barcelona five times a week, an increase from the current 2X-weekly frequency. Milan Malpensa Airport will see daily service, up from 4X-weekly.
In other route adjustments, flights to Adelaide, Australia, will increase from daily to 10X-weekly across the northern winter 2024-25 and summer 2025 seasons. Service to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, will rise to 3X-daily, while Siem Reap, Thailand, will see 2X-daily flights instead of a daily service. Additionally, Singapore Airlines will operate 10X-weekly flights to Johannesburg from Dec. 11 to Jan. 10.
The airline will also bring back Airbus A380 service to Tokyo Narita Airport as part of its two daily services from March 30 to May 31, replacing the Boeing 787-10. However, the A380 will no longer operate to Mumbai from July 28 to Aug. 31, being replaced by Boeing 777-300ER equipment. The same change will apply to Delhi from June 23 to July 27.
SIA’s acting senior vice president of marketing planning, Dai Haoyu, explained that these adjustments are in response to the increased demand for travel to various destinations, especially during the mid-year peak travel season. Singapore Airlines regularly reviews its network and routes to ensure that capacity aligns with demand and to provide travelers with the best possible service.