Interesting: Singapore Airlines Goes Back To 4X Daily First Class To Jakarta

Intro

Well, here I was planning another trip back to Myanmar for next month when I came across something interesting.

The Details

Singapore Airlines used to serve First Class up to 4x Daily on the Singapore-Jakarta route, utilizing their 777-300ER for this short hour and 15-minute flight. However, over the past few years, we have slowly been seeing this route get cut with the 77W and switched over to a 2-class configuration. At one point, I was only seeing First Class operated 1x per day, but most of the time it was 2x daily.

Well, this has now changed as Singapore Airlines has brought back 4x daily flights between these two cities with First Class.

Singapore Airlines CGK-SIN Schedule

If you look up above, these schedules perfectly align with many different avenues. For business travelers, you have the morning flights and the late evening flights, maximizing either time spent on the ground in Singapore or Jakarta, depending on where business takes you.

Additionally, SQ is one of the few airlines to serve London with First Class from Southeast Asia, and many of these flights are timed to line up with London and other European flights.

The Jakarta Route Has Baffled Me

I'll be honest, the Jakarta route has always baffled me for a number of different reasons. Firstly, why is it that Jakarta is the only route in SE Asia to get First Class, and with the latest schedule, 4x daily? SQ used to serve Brunei a few times daily, but other than that, there are no other routes.

I understand that Jakarta is a financial hub, but I've checked some of the loads on this route, and F doesn't seem to be above 50% full on most days, and that's with SQ releasing roughly 1 award seat out of four per flight.

It's a lovely flight, though, honestly

The other two reasons I have are that these planes are going to sit on the ground, so why not have SQ utilize them? The second reason is that I imagine it is much cheaper to park a 77W overnight in Jakarta, than it is Singapore, but that only accounts for 1/4 of the daily services.

Final Thoughts

I know this is a realtively small story in the scheme of the world today, but Singapore Airlines is once again serving 4x daily service from Jakarta to Singapore with First Class. What this means for award flyers is that it is extremely easy to now book into First Class on 1/4 flights per day. There happens to be plenty of award space, and I would snap on it if you can, at least that's what I am doing.