Just one year after it introduced what was then being promoted as the longest flight in or out of the United States, United Airlines has announced it is dropping its non-stop flight between LAX and Singapore.
Starting October 27, 2018, the airline will shift the service to San Francisco, increasing its Singapore departures to twice daily from its Northern California hub airport.
The airline says the move will better help meet customer demand.
"To better serve customers who asked for alternative departure and arrival times to and from SIN (Singapore), we plan to shift our LAX-SIN flight to a second SFO-SIN frequency starting October 27, 2018," said United in a statement.
The new service will depart SFO at 10:55 a.m. (11:55 a.m. for the first week due to DST) and arrive at SIN at 8:15 p.m. the next day. The return flight departs SIN at 10:20 p.m. and arrives in SFO at 8:55 p.m. the same day (9:55 p.m. for the first week due to DST).
"Customers have asked us for a flight getting into Singapore in the evening," said Patrick Quayle, Vice President of International Network for United Airlines. "With this change, we are pleased to offer them this second time channel into Singapore, in addition to improved connectivity across the United network."
United notes that the new schedule will allow eastbound passengers to spend a full day in Singapore before heading to the airport.
While some industry experts posit that the flight is being dropped due to potential future competition after Singapore Airlines announced it will be returning to LAX. But SQ has not yet confirmed any details on its proposed flight from Southern California.
While it previously stated it planned to return to LAX in 2019, a recent update to its press release said details would be announced, "at a later date."
Speaking from the recent International Air Transport Association annual general meeting in Sydney, Australia, Singapore Airlines' chief executive officer Goh Choon Phong said it would launch LAX service "quite soon," according to the Jakarta Post.
What's more, the move means SFO now offers three daily non-stop flights to Singapore, two on United, and a third on Singapore Airlines.
It is as likely that rising fuel costs and the strict weight requirements on the ultra-long-range route have made the flight profitably unviable. Time will tell, however, if demand will support three daily non-stops
The last westbound flight between LAX and SIN will be October 25, 2018, and the last eastbound flight will be on October 27, 2018.
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