I always hate to see Houston lose direct connections to interesting international cities as well as service from flagship foreign carriers, but this doesn't surprise me:
Singapore Airlines announced this week it will suspend its service between Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport and Manchester, England, in April 2025.
The route is the lone service from Singapore Airlines in the Houston market. The decision was made "in line with its capacity adjustments," according to a news release.
Manchester is the only airport with direct flights and from IAH via Singapore Airlines.
As the article notes, Singapore Airlines has been serving Houston since 2008. Originally, the flights operated with a stopover at Domodedovo Airport in Moscow; however, in 2016 the stopover shifted from Moscow to Manchester.
The Houston-Manchester flights are considered fifth freedom flights. A fifth freedom flight is when a plane departs and lands in two different countries, neither of which is the home country for the airline. They are allowed when the flight will have originated or will end at an airport in the airline's home base.
In the case of the Houston-to-Manchester flight, the plane continues to Singapore following its landing in Manchester. The flight starts in Singapore when going in reverse.
After the service change in 2025, Singapore Airlines will still fly to Manchester; it simply will not continue on to Houston anymore.
It was an interesting service, but it always seemed sort of odd because there doesn't seem to be a lot of economic or social ties between Houston and Manchester. Ben Shlappig at One Mile at at Time seems to agree, suggesting a couple of reasons for the discontinuation:
- For those traveling between Houston and Singapore, the travel time from Houston to Singapore is comparable via Los Angeles or San Francisco (compared to via Manchester)
- I can’t imagine the Houston to Manchester market is that huge, especially on a year-round basis; if it had significant demand, you’d think it’s a route that United would operate, and United has a huge advantage, given its transatlantic joint venture and loyal customer base in the area
So my assumption has been that the route is just performing okay(ish), with a moderate amount of demand between Houston and Manchester, plus substantial demand between Houston and Singapore. Furthermore, obviously Singapore Airlines is committed to the Manchester to Singapore market.
Some of the commenters on Schlappig's post seem to think the reason is because Singapore's premium product isn't as good as other carriers flying between Houston and Asia, such as Qatar Airways, rendering it less competitive for high-end local travelers.
Singapore doubtlessly operated this service because it wanted to tap into to fellow Star Alliance member United's hub at IAH. In that regard, Simple Flying seems to wonder why Singapore didn't choose to operate the flight via another Star Alliance hub in Europe, such as Brussels or Zürich, in order to provide better connectivity to the alliance's network. (Nonstop flights from Houston to Switzerland would have been awesome!)
To be sure, Shlappig notes that Singapore Airlines is officially "suspending" the service, rather than cutting it entirely. But I'd be surprised to see it ever resume.
So, if you have a desire to fly nonstop from Houston to Manchester or direct to Singapore, you have until April of next year to do so.
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