Singapore Airlines has struggled with service to Houston since launching in summer 2008. Initially they operated one-stop from Houston to Moscow Domodedovo Airport to Singapore. In October 2016 that switched to Houston – Manchester, U.K. – Singapore. Loads were reportedly “seasonally abysmal.”
In addition to operating non-stop to Singapore from New York JFK, Newark, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle, Singapore Airlines flies ‘fifth freedom routes’ from New York JFK to Frankfurt and Los Angeles to Tokyo Narita – along with Houston to Manchester. They used to operate San Francisco to Hong Kong and Seoul as well. Their other current routes continue.
Houston service suffered with decline in oil and gas markets, pushing the airline to switch it’s connecting city to Manchester – itself a limited direct market from Houston. Initially flown by a Boeing 777-300ER, this flight switched to an Airbus A350 in 2017.
Singapore Airlines has never benefited as much as it might have from its United Airlines partnership, which has often been frosty, and connections through Houston to one-stop service to Southeast Asia still means three flights before reaching a final destination beyond Singapore. Dallas has seen marginally more Asia flying in the meantime.
Singapore Airlines to drop its Manchester – Houston route from 1 April 2025
The airline will maintain 5x weekly flights between Singapore and Manchester, whist the Singapore – London Gatwick will increase to a daily flight pic.twitter.com/ceRIU5DbMo
— Sean M ✈ (@SeanM1997) August 12, 2024
The Singapore Airlines Houston – Manchester flight has long been amazing for award availability, though the connection from Manchester to Singapore has been tougher. It’s no surprise then that the Manchester – Singapore flight will continue, even as the transatlantic flight gets dropped.