Singapore Airlines to Pull Out of Canada

Singapore Airlines has announced it will be axing its service to Vancouver later this year, marking the end of the carrier’s operations in Canada.

The Singaporean flag carrier operates a nonstop service between Singapore Changi (SIN) and Vancouver (YVR) thrice weekly. The almost 8,000-mile route uses a long-range Airbus A350 and is currently the airline’s only route to Canada.

Singapore Airlines has revealed that its Singapore to Vancouver route will be “suspended with effect from October 2023” as the carrier “adjusts its capacity in response to demand.”

“The decision to suspend service is most regrettable, as Singapore Airlines has served Canada for over 20 years,” said Singapore Airlines. “However, the economic conditions and performance on the route has been badly affected by the global economic downturn. The reduction is part of Singapore Airlines’ continuing commitment to ensure capacity is best matched with demand in the current economic conditions.”

Photo: Singapore Airlines, Airbus A350-900. Courtesy of Saif Zaman / Unsplash

Interestingly, this is not the first time Singapore Airlines has axed flights to Canada. The carrier operated flights to Vancouver via Seoul (ICN) for over twenty years, suspending it in 2009. After that initial suspension, Singapore Airlines didn’t return to Canada for over a decade, waiting until 2021 to add Vancouver as a layover on its Singapore to Seattle (SEA) service. Then, in 2022, the carrier added its current direct service to Vancouver to its network, initially launched as a seasonal flight.

While the airline cited passenger demand as its reason for axing the route, a few economic factors are likely hindering its profitability. Current exchange rates and intense competition from other Asian carriers flying to Vancouver most certainly played a crucial role in this route’s cancellation.

The Vancouver service is not the only one to be axed by Singapore Airlines Group in the coming months. During the group’s recent financial service report—which revealed the company is on course to make its first full-year profit since 2019—it was announced that Scoot (a low-cost airline and subsidiary of Singapore Airlines Group) would suspend its direct service from Singapore to Australia’s Gold Coast (OOL).

However, the group announced plans for Scoot to expand its network elsewhere in Indonesia, China, the Pacific region, and Europe. Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines will boost the number of flights to Barcelona (BCN), Frankfurt (FRA), and Rome (FCO).