One of the leading global carriers, Singapore Airlines has confirmed it will start direct flights between its home base of Singapore and London's second busiest airport - London Gatwick from next summer.Subject to regulatory approval, flight SQ310 will operate...
Subject to regulatory approval, flight SQ310 will operate on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. The inaugural flight will depart Singapore for Gatwick Airport at 2355hrs (local time) on 21 June 2024 and arrive in London at 0625hrs (local time) on 22 June 2024.
Singapore Airlines will deploy the long-haul variant of its Airbus A350-900 aircraft on the route which features 253 seats in three cabin classes: 42 in Business Class, 24 in Premium Economy Class, and 187 in Economy Class.
The return leg, flight SQ309, will operate from Gatwick Airport to Singapore on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. The inaugural return flight will depart at 1015hrs (local time) on 22 June 2024 and arrive in Singapore at 0620hrs on 23 June 2024. The early morning arrival offers customers options to connect to SIA and Scoot flights to destinations across Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.
Together with its current four-times daily services to London’s Heathrow Airport, this will bring the total number of flights to the United Kingdom’s (UK) capital to 33 weekly services from today’s 28 weekly services. SIA also operates five times a week services to Manchester Airport.
Mr Stewart Wingate, Chief Executive Officer, London Gatwick, said: “Renowned as one of the world’s best carriers, we are delighted to welcome Singapore Airlines to London Gatwick. It showcases the high regard in which Gatwick is held, and connecting to the impressive Changi Airport is a big boost for the whole region. For passengers across London and the South East, the new route will provide huge connectivity potential, not only to the fantastic destination of Singapore, but more widely across South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand. With significant increases in trade between the UK and Singapore in recent years, the service also provides exciting opportunities for local and regional businesses.
Passengers arriving from Singapore will benefit from London Gatwick’s outstanding connections, with our newly redesigned train station providing direct access to the heart of London in less than 30 minutes, alongside services to world-famous cities such as Cambridge and the UK’s beautiful south coast.”
The announcement has been welcomed by industry professionals and travellers alike, Kenny McNatty of a Crawley-based financial services company said, "This is wonderful news, we have offices in both Hong Kong and Singapore, so this new direct flight will save the trek over to Heathrow and make it so much easier to get to and from the airport."
The airline also recently announced the strengthening of its strategic partnership with Marriott International, which provides members of Marriott Bonvoy, Marriott International’s award-winning travel programme, and KrisFlyer, the SIA Group’s lifestyle rewards programme, with more ways to maximise their benefits.
Eligible members of the two programmes may receive a status match and take advantage of an accelerated pathway to obtain a higher elite status. The expansion of this collaboration is in addition to the two-way points and miles transfer benefits for members of both programmes that was announced in January 2023, and allows them to convert their Marriott Bonvoy points into KrisFlyer miles and vice versa.
