Wow! Didn't see this one coming. I was expecting LAX-HKG before this. Sad to see the last 5th freedom in SIN-HKG go, but one look at the seat maps tells you why it will now.
Originally Posted by
pbartp
Now, a west coast connection and the 787 E+ seats
+ an extra 5 hours travel time!
I also preferred arriving SIN late in the evening-head straight to hotel and sleep after the long trip. Now only option is to arrive in morning and push through the first day--makes dealing with jet lag much harder IMHO.
The actual increase in flight time will be about 3 hours, almost all added to the shorter leg. The 787 does a have another inch of pitch too, along with the standard 787 cabin benefits.
Or if one considers NH though NRT, the flight time is the same.
Originally Posted by
spin88
The planes are infact run side by side on SFO-SIN, both going against the wind. United's (789) flight is weight limited, with blocked off seats, and likely no cargo, for part of the year. Perhaps I have missed it, but I see no signs that SQ (359) has had to block off seats.
I've heard the opposite - that SQ has more issues with weight restrictions. But that's just rumor. What's fact is that SQ has a low density for their A359, so essentially they are already seat blocking significantly. UA easily wins on the cost side if both planes are allowed to capacity.
Originally Posted by
spin88
That said, no one is going to run out of fuel (and MNL would not be a diversion point, the routing is similar to that of the LAX/SFO-HKG flights, just a little to the west) given the extra 300-350 sm needed for the flight, United will likely either (a) add a tech stop, or (b) will block of even more seats.
UAL1 commonly flies close to MNL, so I don't see why that wouldn't be a diversion point. SFO-SIN is usually much farther south than SFO-HKG.
Even though it's slightly longer, LAX-SIN might be the roughly the same or slightly easier on a performance basis due to winds or runways. SFO-SIN commonly goes well south of great circle and adds distance--sometimes pushing 9,000 miles. LAX starts closer to that common route. And it doesn't hurt that LAX has another football field of longest runway to work with either. If anybody knows the limits of the 789, it's UA.