SIA to resume non-stop flights to New York area in November after 7-month break

SINGAPORE — National carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) will resume non-stop flights to New York next month, this time flying to John F Kennedy Airport rather than nearby Newark Liberty International Airport, the company said on Tuesday (Oct 20).

The thrice-weekly non-stop flights from Changi Airport will start from Nov 9. Flights back to Changi Airport will start two days later on Nov 11, SIA said in a media statement.

SIA had earlier suspended its non-stop service to Newark in March as Covid-19 battered travel demand. Newark is about 15km from New York City, but is in the state of New Jersey.

SIA said that the flights would allow the airline to better accommodate a mix of passenger and cargo traffic “in the current operating climate”.

It added that the non-stop services would also be supported by the growing number of passengers who are now able to transit at Changi Airport.

SIA said that it anticipates “significant cargo demand” from a range of industries based in the New York metro area such as pharmaceuticals, e-commerce and technology firms.

“The new service will provide the only non-stop air cargo link from the US Northeast to Singapore, which serves as a regional distribution hub for many major US-based companies,” SIA said.

The resumption of flights to New York sees the national carrier operating two non-stop services to the US — the other being Los Angeles.

SIA said that it will continue to review its operations to the United States and assess the growing demand for air travel amid the ongoing recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic “before deciding to reinstate services to other points in the country”.

Mr Lee Lik Hsin, SIA executive vice-president (commercial), said that the launch of flights to  JFK International Airport represents an important step in rebuilding the airline’s global network.

“Nonstop ultra-long services are the bedrock of our services to the key US market. We will continue to ramp up existing services and reinstate other points as the demand for both passenger and cargo services return,” he said.

Mr Lee added that despite the challenging times for the airline industry “there are some early signs of optimism about a recovery in air travel”.

“Our customers say that they are increasingly confident about air travel... This optimism is also driven by recent moves by countries such as Singapore, which are easing the restrictions on both transit and inbound passengers in a safe and gradual manner,” said Mr Lee.

Just last week, the SIA Group said that it had suffered a 98.1 per cent year-on-year decline in passenger carriage in September, even as Singapore opened its borders to more places.

The group had said then that the demand for air travel continued to remain soft as border controls and strict travel restrictions remained in place in most countries to curb the spread of Covid-19.