MathNerd

I've followed this exact topic of discussion for a while now, in various media.

The official line that SQ uses, both on its website and in replies to various social forums requesting clarification, is "Due to regulatory requirements, transfers to and from India via Singapore are not allowed until further notice".
(https://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/s...rther%20notice)

However, I've looked far and wide and can't see any documentation detailing/listing these 'regulatory requirements'.

I know that the Indian government's MOHFW (https://www.mohfw.gov.in/) releases guidelines periodically, however none of these guidelines prohibit transit flights.

Similarly, there are Air Transport Bubbles (https://www.civilaviation.gov.in/en/...nsport-bubbles) that allow flights to take place.

Anyone know of why SQ is taking this approach? I've heard of EK/EY/QR successfully transporting pax to/from the US and IN transiting at DXB/AUH/DOH successfully, it's only SQ that's taking a harder line on this.

Have searched FT but to no avail.

sbs2716g

SQ have in fact accepted a lot of transit paxes booking to and from India to elsewhere and they have to cancel the booking if you have read SQ Facebook post. They would have happily accept all these transit paxes


the restriction is listed in the India civil aviation website and you have posted the same link also

https://www.civilaviation.gov.in/en/...nsport-bubbles

bpk6h

Interestingly it says the UAE can only provide transit for pax from/to South America and Africa. Thus, if EK etc are providing transit from North America/Europe to India they are not abiding the current rules.

MathNerd

Thanks @sbs2716g. You're right - it does say that. However it's that's the only place that you can find that restriction, it's a pretty poor effort from the IN regulatory bodies. You'd expect a more formal letter or circular that would detail exactly which flights are allowed (or not allowed, as the case may be).

Exactly, there seems to be little to no regard for the rules that SQ is following. When you live in a country (in my case, AU) that has extremely limited opportunities to get to IN without transiting, it effectively locks most people out.

The current restrictions are meant to be in place until the end of this month only, let's see what happens after that.

sbs2716g

It is possible to get to India from AU. Just need to stay in Singapore for a few days via the VTL.

MEL-World

You could book a QF flight, MEL-DEL or SYD-DEL both via ADL or AI direct from MEL with no transit issues.

freed0m

Anywhere Air India serves can’t transit.

bpk6h

I am getting off topic from SQ...but I checked a few airlines. Air France in particular states no transit from the UK and Canada to India but can accept transit from the US if the flight is on a Delta code share...clever.

flayum

Tried to find an answer to this googling around, but appear to need advice from the SQ experts on this. Apologies if this is a basic question on SQ schedules, but I'm I'm trying to get the hang of things.

Does SQ delay release of award availability entirely for certain routes?
For example: looking at SIN-SFO on 1 Jan 2022, there are 6 available flights on both award and revenue calendars in J. Moving to 2 Jan or 3 Jan: there are 4 revenue flights, but only 2 show up on the award calendar - the other 2 are not listed at all, not even showing 'unavailable' for J. Y does show multiple additional options.

Should I hold out any hope for these other flights to open award space in J at all? I was hopeful to at least have the option to waitlist, but they don't show up at all. I'm also perplexed by the massive change in J availability from Jan-1 to Jan-2/3. Is this an expected trend for Jan-4 onwards? Thanks for any input!

freed0m

originally, India only wants Air India to operate direct flights between US and India. US airlines complained to DOT and DOT forces Indian authorities to reciprocate or lose the US market completely.

freed0m

SQ tries its best not to have a pattern to deter people from taking chances. And SQ does not mind business class seats flown empty.

The strategy is always to book the next most suitable flight and hoping that SQ may release seats on most desired flights.

flayum

Thanks, I see - so the day-to-day availability changes are normal and, although space could open up on those other flights, I shouldn't expect this.

I assumed incorrectly that SQ would always provide at least some award availability on each flight, so I was stalking the edge of the calendar to grab something. Going for 6 flight options to 2 is rough though.. maybe I can use this as an excuse to do SIN-FRA-JFK-SFO to try out the A380.

Edit: Also, apparently the website has a ton of phantom saver space and the website doesn't show space until much later than it actually opens?

sbs2716g

there is no 6 flight to SFO on 1st Jan. Basically it is just SQ34 or SQ32 n SQ2. SQ have put in some connection via HKG for SQ2.

SQ have not release the saver or advantage award for 2/Jan n 3/Jan. Even for the revenue seat, only the highest flexi fare is available. No lite/standard fare available. So only the highest fare class open up. Just wait 1-2 days.

flayum

Ah, thank you! This is very reassuring since I've been going crazy trying to work around these dates. Are you using the fare buckets on ExpertFlyer or just the revenue web search?

Also, out of curiosity, is there a reason why these dates on this route haven't been released yet? SIN-JFK/EWR seems unaffected during this timeframe.

Edit: Not sure this is known, but saver availability for new bookings is not the same as saver availability for changes, apparently.
Edit2: Apparently, despite other reports, you can waitlist stopovers if you're changing a stopover? I was just able to do this over the chat.

sbs2716g

using SQ revenue search. It seem like SQ Is just holding back the tickets for SIN-SFO for these few days. 4/1& 5/1 indicate saver available but when you click become waitlist.
Maybe someone doing some update and forget to adjust something.

SFO-SIN saver is wide open.