Singapore Airlines Drops Manchester-Houston Route

Singapore Airlines (SIA) will discontinue its fifth-freedom route between Manchester, England, and Houston next April as part of a broader series of network adjustments that will see more flights to destinations including Barcelona, London and Milan.

The airline confirmed that the service, which links Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) with Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) via Manchester Airport (MAN), will cease on April 1, 2025. Currently, the route operates five times per week with Airbus A350-900 aircraft.

The Star Alliance member initially launched the service in October 2016 and resumed it in December 2021 after a 20-month suspension due to the pandemic. However, while SIA is canceling the fifth-freedom leg between Manchester and Houston, it will continue to operate five weekly services between Singapore and Manchester on flights SQ302 and SQ301.

Elsewhere, SIA has confirmed plans to increase frequencies on four European routes during the summer 2025 season. Flights to London Gatwick Airport will rise from 5X-weekly to daily from March 30, alongside the carrier’s existing 4X-daily flights to London Heathrow Airport.

The airline will also expand frequencies to Rome Fiumicino Airport from 4X to 5X-weekly from June 26 through Aug. 28, and delink its 3X-weekly Singapore-Milan-Barcelona flights from June 24 through Sept. 7. The carrier will instead offer 5X-weekly nonstops to Barcelona during this time, up from the current 2X-weekly, while Milan Malpensa Airport will have daily service, up from 4X-weekly.

Additionally, flights to Adelaide, Australia, will rise from daily to 10X-weekly across the northern winter 2024-25 and summer 2025 seasons; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, will rise to 3X-daily, up from 19X-weekly; and service to Siem Reap, Thailand, will go to 2X-daily, up from a daily flight. The carrier will also serve Johannesburg 10X-weekly from Dec. 11 to Jan. 10, and bring back Airbus A380 service to Tokyo Narita Airport between March 30 and May 31 as one of its two daily services, replacing the Boeing 787-10.

However, the A380 will stop operating to Mumbai from July 28 to Aug. 31 next year, and Delhi from June 23 to July 27, and be replaced by Boeing 777-300ER equipment.

“Singapore Airlines regularly reviews our network and routes to align our capacity with demand,” SIA acting senior vice president marketing planning Dai Haoyu says. “These adjustments, ahead of next summer, cater to the higher demand to several destinations, particularly during the traditional mid-year peak travel season.”