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Singapore Airlines will introduce its fourth daily passenger service to and from Hong Kong a month earlier than planned – from 1st July 2023 – ahead of its refreshed SilverKris lounge reopening in the city.
Singapore Airlines has been gradually reintroducing passenger capacity to its Hong Kong route since the China SAR finally lifted its COVID-19 border measures, one of the last countries in the world to do so, which has meant hassle-free Hong Kong trips have only been a reality since April 2023.
The airline first planned to hike its passenger flights to four times daily on this city pair from 1st August 2023, but has now announced that this additional flight will be brought forward by a month, joining the network from 1st July 2023 instead.
Fourth daily Hong Kong service
Singapore Airlines will reinstate its SQ894 afternoon service to Hong Kong, going wheels-up from Changi at 1.05pm, for a 5.05pm arrival in Hong Kong, ample time to head to your hotel and then go out for dinner.
That same service returns to Singapore at 6.50pm as SQ895, touching down back in the Lion City at 10.40pm, allowing you to maximise the last day of your trip.
The airline will deploy its four-class Boeing 777-300ER aircraft on the service, with four First Class seats, 48 of the 2013 Business Class seats, 28 Premium Economy seats and 184 Economy Class seats.
SIA served Hong Kong from Changi seven times daily before the pandemic, so this new additional service will still only restore 50% of pre-COVID capacity to and from the city, hiking the weekly seat count to 7,588 in each direction, compared to 15,106 back in January 2020.
Unfortunately there is still no sign of a return for the airline’s “fifth freedom” route between Hong Kong and San Francisco, which were briefly reinstated post-COVID in November 2021 but ceased in January 2022, when transit passengers were banned.
The schedule
Here’s how SIA’s Hong Kong schedule looks from 1st July 2023, with the fourth additional service highlighted.
Singapore Hong Kong
1 Jul 2023 – 28 Oct 2023
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
 |
SQ874 A350 LH |
||||||||
| SIN 07:25 |
HKG 11:20 |
||||||||
|
SQ892 777-300ER A380 (fm 1 Aug) |
||||||||
| SIN 09:40 |
HKG 13:55 |
||||||||
|
SQ894 777-300ER |
||||||||
| SIN 13:05 |
HKG 17:05 |
||||||||
|
SQ898 A350 MH |
||||||||
| SIN 19:55 |
HKG 23:50 |
||||||||
Hong Kong Singapore
1 Jul 2023 – 28 Oct 2023
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
|
SQ899 A350 MH |
||||||||
| HKG 09:05 |
SIN 13:00 |
||||||||
|
SQ875 A350 LH |
||||||||
| HKG 12:25 |
SIN 16:20 |
||||||||
|
SQ893 777-300ER A380 (fm 1 Aug) |
||||||||
| HKG 15:40 |
SIN 19:35 |
||||||||
|
SQ895 777-300ER |
||||||||
| HKG 18:50 |
SIN 22:40 |
||||||||
Note how the daily SQ892/893 service downgrades from the Airbus A380 to the Boeing 777-300ER on the Hong Kong route during July 2023, but returns to the superjumbo from 1st August 2023.
Though this new service offers the poorer cousin to A380 Suites in First Class, we don’t think you should discount it for an award redemption.
We most recently tried it out in September 2021 on the inaugural VTL flight from Germany to Singapore, and we were happy to report that the experience hasn’t lost its shine, despite a few COVID restrictions still being in place at the time.
See our comprehensive review for a full rundown on our experience.
In total, there will be 8 First Class seats on the Hong Kong route daily in each direction from July, while from August this is hiked to 10 First Class seats and Suites per day (four 2013 First Class and six 2017 Suites).
That will put Hong Kong third on the list of First Class seat capacity for the airline, after London (20/day) and Jakarta (16/day), coming in joint third with Melbourne (also 10/day) this summer.
A new Hong Kong SilverKris lounge is coming
As we recently revealed, Singapore Airlines is full-swing into a three-month renovation of its nine-year-old Hong Kong SilverKris Lounge, which should be completed in mid-August this year and will see the facility reopen with a fresh new design, more akin to the carrier’s latest home base revamps at Changi Airport T3.
Stay tuned for more news about the latest Hong Kong lounge design and official reopening date as we receive it.
Hong Kong redemption rates
These are the KrisFlyer miles needed for the Singapore – Hong Kong route, based on the latest award rates since the 2022 devaluation became effective almost a year ago, on 5th July 2022.
| KrisFlyer Redemption Singapore ⇄ Hong Kong |
||
| Saver | Advantage | |
| Economy | 16,500 | 30,000 |
| Premium Economy | 26,500 | n/a |
| Business | 34,000 | 50,000 |
| First / Suites | 45,000 | 73,000 |
Hong Kong flights have also been appearing on KrisFlyer’s monthly Spontaneous Escapes promotion, with 30% off Economy, Premium Economy and Business Class award rates for those who can make last-minute travel plans for the subsequent month.
This can drive one-way Business Class Saver award seats down to 23,800 miles each way, so watch out for the July offer next week.
Other Singapore – Hong Kong flights
Cathay Pacific is already offering four times daily service between Singapore and Hong Kong, lifting to five times daily from 27th October 2023.
Services use a mixture of the Oneworld carrier’s Airbus A350-900, Airbus A350-1000 and Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, departing from Changi Airport T4, where the airline is once again using its own dedicated lounge.
Cathay Pacific operated 61 weekly services (between eight and nine per day) on the Singapore – Hong Kong route prior to the pandemic, based on January 2020 schedules, so there’s still some way to go for full capacity to be restored.
On the low-cost side, SIA’s budget arm Scoot offers a single daily Boeing 787 flight on the Singapore – Hong Kong route, while Cathay’s low-cost offshoot HK Express has a single daily Airbus A320 service, the latter ending in late June 2023.
Prior to COVID-19 there were also Jetstar services between Singapore and Hong Kong, but these have not made a comeback.
Singapore Airlines is finally hitting 50% of pre-COVID capacity on its popular Hong Kong route from July 2023, with the accelerated addition of a fourth daily service using Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.
This does coincide with a temporary withdrawal of the Airbus A380 on SQ892/893 flights, downgraded to the Boeing 777-300ER during July, but back in full swing with the superjumbo again from 1st August 2023.
Speaking of August, that’s pencilled in as the completion date for SIA’s first overseas SilverKris Lounge upgrade since the pandemic, with a fully refreshed facility expected to welcome eligible departing passengers to replace the nine-year-old version that was shuttered in March 2020.
(Cover Photo: Julian Herzog)
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