SIN-BCN nonstop?

[kris]

Enrique Ruiz de Lera, Departmental Head from the Spanish Ministry of Tourism states that it's highly likely that the MXP stop will be dropped.

The stopover has been part of the reason keeping me away. Time for a drop by to Catalonia?

[Kyo]

Well, that's certainly a bit of a surprise...

Didn't realise BCN warranted a direct. But that's major incentive to postpone planning my 2010 KF mileage burn process...

[kris]

Well, that's certainly a bit of a surprise...

Apparently, the Spainish government is interested in expanding its tourism industry in Asia. That's probably the reason why.

A good thing in anycase.

[AsiaCommuter]

I do this route weekly (both directions normally on peak days) I can tell you the premium passenger load from Barcelona to Milan (vice versa) is very low. Never F passenger (except me on occassions!) and J has 3 or 4 at max. I do not see how SQ could justify a direct service, economy has more passengers but the front of the plane is generally where the revenue comes from...

I was funny enough talking to the IFS on this flight early this week about this very topic, he said the same about the lack of load for premium passengers. Also there are well documented rumours SQ may fly Singapore > Barcelona > Madrid without a stop in Milan (rather in Barcelona), also another rumour about a Singapore > Barcelona > Sao Paulo ...for me the last routing would be great and open up SQ into South America.

If SQ decide to ditch the Milan stop it will cut out the painful 1.5 stop in Milan. But I hope they do not drop the 777 300 ER from the routing. If that happens I will route with SQ departing London, Paris or Zurich to get a decent product for the long haul.

Lets see what happens

[BigTop]

If they drop the MXP stop, will SQ stop flying there or will BCN and MXP be two totally different flights?

[KC*]

If they drop the MXP stop, will SQ stop flying there or will BCN and MXP be two totally different flights?

I suspect it'd be a drop although it must be quite a loss if so. I wonder if SQ will just code share for the SIN-MXP sector with a Star Alliance partner if so.

On my two runs on this route the last few years, the bulk of passengers dropped off at MXP - whether J or Y. I dunno about F, though - not my league.

Heeeheee... having said that - both my visits were to BCN. I would love to see Madrid come back on board, though... Really would. Sao Paulo would have me opening a bottle of champagne to celebrate.

[AsiaCommuter]

Cannot see SQ dropping Milan, more likely to operate a dedicated direct flight as that is where the current revenue seems to be coming from (although the Barcelona extra hop brings in some revenue).

Whether the numbers hold up for a dedicated Singapore > Barcelona or Singapore > Barcelona > Madrid only time will tell.

Equally I would be very happy to have a Spanish > Brazilian connection with SQ as I could cut out LH from my south american trips. Although I will not be holding my breath for either....

[9V-SIA]

Agree with AsiaCommuter. If they drop MXP, I hope it'll be:

SIN-BCN-MAD

SIN-BCN-GRU or EZE. My personal wish

SIN-BCN by itself won't survive

[N_Architect]

SIN-BCN-GRU or EZE. My personal wish

Agree with AsiaCommuter, 9V-SIA and declare availability for the inaugural flight (when this is scheduled...)

[kris]

I was funny enough talking to the IFS on this flight early this week about this very topic, he said the same about the lack of load for premium passengers. Also there are well documented rumours SQ may fly Singapore > Barcelona > Madrid without a stop in Milan (rather in Barcelona), also another rumour about a Singapore > Barcelona > Sao Paulo ...for me the last routing would be great and open up SQ into South America.

The MAD extension would make sense really. I think it'd be quite pleasant flying to MAD, taking the 2.5 hour high-speed rail to BCN (just for the Euro train experience really!) and coming back to SIN.

[B727]

Agree with AsiaCommuter. If they drop MXP, I hope it'll be:

SIN-BCN-MAD

SIN-BCN-GRU or EZE. My personal wish

SIN-BCN by itself won't survive

So they really should open up SIN-BCN-GRU. What does the currently bilateral between Sing and Brasil say--only three weekly flights to GRU? Well, then they should do SIN-BCN-MAD the rest of the week. That way for those of us headed down the South American way, we can still connect with JJ from MAD to GRU (speaking of which, is JJ still on track to join *A?)

[Kiwi]

(speaking of which, is JJ still on track to join *A?)

Yes, by mid 2010.

[SQalMundo]

So they really should open up SIN-BCN-GRU. What does the currently bilateral between Sing and Brasil say--only three weekly flights to GRU? Well, then they should do SIN-BCN-MAD the rest of the week. That way for those of us headed down the South American way, we can still connect with JJ from MAD to GRU (speaking of which, is JJ still on track to join *A?)

Going a little off-topic, I think TAM Linhas Aereas has rather limited international service; even after VARIG 'shut down', TAM doesn't take much of the advantage to replace many of the lost flights (do you notice that even after TAM did replace VARIG's more popular routes, they stopped expanding, in terms of fleet and destinations? They prefer to remain status quo after that). Should TAM still be considered Brazil's official international flag carrier then? I still miss VARIG's direct flights to Bangkok and Hong Kong...

[B727]

Yes, by mid 2010.

We are quickly approaching that mark, let's see if they meet the target

[B727]

Going a little off-topic, I think TAM Linhas Aereas has rather limited international service; even after VARIG 'shut down', TAM doesn't take much of the advantage to replace many of the lost flights (do you notice that even after TAM did replace VARIG's more popular routes, they stopped expanding, in terms of fleet and destinations? They prefer to remain status quo after that). Should TAM still be considered Brazil's official international flag carrier then? I still miss VARIG's direct flights to Bangkok and Hong Kong...

I think they have to think of the bottomline as well. RG and VP's Asian routes were indeed part of the prestige of those carriers, but JJ's international expansion has been driven by market demand rather than prestige.

I never flew their Asian flights, but I definitely remember the sight of the M11s doing the checkerboard landing approach into Kai Tak. Gorgeous birds indeed.

The "new RG", as you may very well know, is now owned by G3 which is not necessarily a bad thing. I was flying JJ domestically for a while, but G3 has better support services--especially for those weather-related last minute airport changes at CGN--so I'm happy to fly them and bank the miles with AA.

I think I last flew the "old RG" from EZE-GIG back in 2006 when they were still part of *A at which point I proudly presented my KF card at the airport.

Y'all know what would make a really great impression? It would be for SQ to announce GRU flights at the same time JJ joins *A, a triple codeshare between the two and Spanair