Singapore Airlines swaps A380 Sydney flights: has your seat changed?

Singapore Airlines is reshuffling its Airbus A380 schedule to Sydney next month, so check your travel details to see whether your flight or seat allocation has changed.

The airline is swapping the aircraft it uses on two flights from Sydney.

Inbound flights from Singapore are not affected, but business class passengers on outbound flights may end up in an older reclining seat on Boeing 777-300 planes rather than the popular and more comfortable extra-wide fully flat beds on the A380.

(The 777-300 may or may not be the refitted version we discussed a couple of weeks ago.)

Flight SQ212 from Sydney (departing at 0810 and arriving in Singapore at 1430 local time) will lose the A380, to be replaced by a Boeing 777-300.

Flight SQ232 (departing at 1120 and arriving in Singapore at 1745 local time) will gain the A380 in exchange for the 777-300 that is now departing on the earlier flight.

Changes go into effect on 7 September, and continue through the Northern Hemisphere winter 2011-12 season. If your flight has been changed (and your schedule allows for changes) you might want to contact Singapore Airlines to see whether you can be moved to another flight on the same day -- especially if getting a good sleep or having extra space on the plane is important to you.

The total number of Singapore-Sydney return flights is unchanged, at four daily. From Sydney, these are:

• SQ212 (777-300) leaving Sydney at 0810 and arriving into Singapore at 1430 
• SQ232 (A380) leaving Sydney at 1120 and arriving into Singapore at 1745 
• SQ222 (A380) leaving Sydney at 1515 and arriving into Singapore at 2140 
• SQ242 (777-200) leaving Sydney at 1750 and arriving into Singapore at 0010 the next morning 

From Singapore:

• SQ231 (A380) leaving Singapore at 0035 and arriving into Sydney at 1020 
• SQ241 (777-200) leaving Singapore at 0700 and arriving into Sydney at 1630 
• SQ211 (777-300) leaving Singapore at 0925 and arriving into Sydney at 1855 
• SQ221 (A380) leaving Singapore at 2010 and arriving into Sydney at 0555 

SIA runs its all-business class upper deck A380 fleet into Sydney, and that's not expected to change.

(If you're on one of Singapore's A380s, don't miss our guide to picking the best business class seat on the plane.)

Tip of the hat to the ever-detailed airlineroute.net for the heads-up.

John Walton

Aviation journalist and travel columnist John took his first long-haul flight when he was eight weeks old and hasn't looked back since. Well, except when facing rearwards in business class.