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Route news: Singapore Airlines launches Gatwick, Edinburgh gains Bergen and Stuttgart

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Route news in brief:

Singapore Airlines launches flights from London Gatwick

In what is a bit of a coup for London Gatwick airport – although due entirely to the lack of slots at Heathrow rather than a love of Crawley, I suspect – Singapore Airlines will launch flights next June.

There will be five flights per week, departing on Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

It is a pleasant 10.15 departure from Gatwick, landing at 06.20. The return is very late (23.55 departure from Changi) landing back in London at 06.25.

The first service will be on 21st June. The aircraft will be an A350-900 with 42 seats in Business Class, 24 in Premium Economy and 187 in Economy.

Singapore Airlines is a member of Star Alliance so you can earn and redeem miles from any Star programme on these flights. Availability tends to be a lot better for members of its KrisFlyer programme, however.

KrisFlyer is an American Express Membership Rewards transfer partner. However, it is the only airline partner not to be 1:1 from Amex. Instead, you get a rather weak 3:2 conversion rate. Our article on the best UK credit cards for redeeming on Star Alliance airlines is here.

We wrote a full article on how to earn Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles from UK credit cards which you can find here.

If you want to check pricing, flights were due to be bookable from today on the Singapore Airlines website.

Singapore Airlines launches flights from London Gatwick Airport

Norwegian launches flights to Bergen from Edinburgh

We don’t normally cover Norwegian route launches now that the airline has shrunk down to being a short-haul Scandinavian carrier, but I thought this one would interest readers.

The airline will fly to Bergen from Edinburgh in summer 2024.

There will be two flights per week (Thursday and Sunday) from 20th June.

We reviewed the new Moxy hotel in Bergen, part of Marriott Bonvoy, in 2022 – click here and photo below. It’s an expensive, but very pleasant, city and this is one of the few ‘redemption hotels’ in town.

Moxy Bergen

Eurowings adds Edinburgh to Stuttgart flights

Finally, and following the announcement of its Manchester to Stuttgart service, Eurowings has added flghts from Edinburgh.

Flights will start on 3rd May and operate on Monday, Friday and Sunday.

Eurowings is part of Lufthansa, and you can earn and spend Miles & More miles on these flights. I don’t think that miles from other Star Alliance programmes can be earned or used on Eurowings. (EDIT: comments suggest United and Air Canada are ok.)

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Comments (37)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Charles Martel says:
    19 Dec19 December 04:33

    You can credit Eurowings to United MileagePlus and Air Canada Aeroplan.

  • Andrew J says:
    19 Dec19 December 05:44

    Couldn’t find a picture of a Singapore Airlines A350?

    • Erico1875 says:
      19 Dec19 December 05:52

      Stuggart ties in nicely for Scotlands Euro campaign being one of the venues

    • Rob says:
      19 Dec19 December 08:43

      We paid good money for that one and don’t use it much! We’ve paid up to £150 for image rights in the past, although admittedly not that one.

      • Rhys says:
        19 Dec19 December 09:41

        We do use unsplash too, but it doesn’t always have what we want!

      • Rob says:
        19 Dec19 December 09:58

        HfP has a particular aesthetic these days, and that doesn’t always come cheap. The Tokyo photo today is Unsplash though. We will pay for an image which we consider suitably cool.

        I was trying to find a ‘funky’ Crowne Plaza logo shot the other day and had to give up, can’t find one even for £.

  • Paul says:
    19 Dec19 December 06:31

    Scotland is well connected to Germany with both Glasgow and Edinburgh offering non stop services to Frankfurt in under 2 hours. Even KLM can get you to Germany in just over 3. BA from Glasgow is a 4.5 hour slog via LHR and even longer some days from Edinburgh.

    • Stu_N says:
      19 Dec19 December 07:32

      I used to travel to Frankfurt regularly pre-covid. When the direct flight timings didn’t suit or were ludicrously expensive I went Edinburgh/ London City/ Frankfurt. Consistently sub-4 hours.

      You’re a braver man than me if you’re doing a sub-3.5 hour journey via Schipol as that implies a 45 min non-Schengen/ Schengen connection. Not sure that’s even within MCT now.

    • astra19 says:
      19 Dec19 December 09:05

      Unfortunately the direct Lufthansa fares can be absolutely ridiculous. It’s normally a lot cheaper with BA.

  • aseftel says:
    19 Dec19 December 07:43

    Horses for courses, I suppose, but I wouldn’t describe a morning flight to Asia as ‘pleasant’. I find it far easier to leave in the afternoon, mostly stay up during the flight and arrive in the early evening tired and ready to sleep.

    • planeconcorde says:
      19 Dec19 December 07:50

      +1 I much prefer late evening departures when going east. Skip the in-flight meal and straight to sleep.

    • S says:
      19 Dec19 December 07:51

      Correct

    • JABS says:
      19 Dec19 December 08:30

      Agreed, always had horrendous jet lag when getting the morning flights to Asia. More manageable on the late avo/early evening flights. The flight time from Asia is good though. Arrive in the morning and IME it’s relatively easy to stay up through day and then get straight into timezone.

    • LittleNick says:
      19 Dec19 December 09:38

      Agreed, just about to write the same. Much better to arrive afternoon/evening in Asia and get back to London early hours.

      • Norsksaint says:
        19 Dec19 December 10:35

        Depends whether you’re targeting Singapore or connections; this is similar times to that out of CPH I recently took down to Sydney. Allowed me to arrive into SYD in the evening, crash and wake ready and fresh to go.

        • JDB says:
          19 Dec19 December 10:48

          Yes, arriving in Australia late afternoon/early evening for dinner and bed is brilliant vs BA dumping you there at 6am.

    • SamG says:
      19 Dec19 December 10:49

      Agree, they always seem about 10x as long! But SQ has a big connecting bank available in the morning as there are quite a few Euro flights that arrive at that time, so may work better for some destinations.

    • Joh says:
      23 Dec23 December 20:33

      Yes a leisurely 10am departure means getting up about 5am

  • TimM says:
    19 Dec19 December 08:28

    “In what is a bit of a coup for London Gatwick airport”
    For the vast majority who live outside Greater London, there is little difference between Heathrow and Gatwick. #Realitycheck

    • G says:
      19 Dec19 December 08:37

      Your choice to not live in London/S.E Area. Also a realitycheck for you.

      • TimM says:
        19 Dec19 December 09:48

        It is my choice. I have lived in 40 places – cities, towns and village – in the UK, including Greater London. I never, ever would choose to live remotely near London again.

        • Bodkins says:
          19 Dec19 December 11:09

          It’s possible that living above a crack house in Neasden doesn’t encompass all that London has to offer.

    • LittleNick says:
      19 Dec19 December 09:39

      How far outside Greater London? Gatwick/Heathrow serve more than those that just live within the M25.

    • Richie says:
      19 Dec19 December 10:23

      Gatwick has very good rail services

      • Londonsteve says:
        19 Dec19 December 11:00

        Yes, they’re superb and an underrated aspect of the airport. Only the other day I travelled to Gatwick on a ‘standard’ train ticket out of Victoria and I was directed to a non-stop Gatwick Express service. I was surprised but the staff on the gate line insisted my ticket was valid. While you can buy more expensive tickets from Gatwick Express directly, it appears the days of requiring a special ticket are over, albeit if you pay on Contactless it’s still dearer. It’s all very confusing and seems designed to bamboozle one into buying the most expensive fare.

      • TooPoorToBeHere says:
        19 Dec19 December 19:34

        Agreed. *When the trains can be relied upon to turn up* LGW from Yorkshire and the midlands – trains arriving at Kings Cross or St Pancras – is a breeze.

    • Londonsteve says:
      19 Dec19 December 10:54

      Maybe so, but it doesn’t change the fact that it is a coup for Gatwick which has a very different set up to Heathrow. The fact that many outside of London confuse the two is arbitrary. Gatwick isn’t nearly as well connected to the world as Heathrow and has to work much harder to find then sort of ‘quality’ routes this new Singapore option presents. It’s mostly a low cost ‘bucket and spade’ leisure airport.

    • Bodkins says:
      19 Dec19 December 11:00

      It is remarkable that the largest airports have been built where the majority of the population live. In crazy world, it would make more sense to build all the airports in the north, to serve the majority of the population who live in the south east of the UK.

    • mvcvz says:
      19 Dec19 December 11:11

      TimM. Please do not take it upon yourself to speak on my behalf. I live in Cheshire (which is infinitely more pleasant than the overcrowded and arrogant SE) and it generally takes at least an hour longer to drive from my home to LGW than it does to LHR. There’s your reality check, sunshine.

      • TimM says:
        19 Dec19 December 19:37

        Sunshine, I don’t drive. My timings are based on train journeys. Heathrow and Gatwick are equally inconvenient.

  • Richie says:
    19 Dec19 December 10:18

    SQ have just added another reason as to why I should be more of a Star Alliance frequent flyer.

    • Numpty says:
      19 Dec19 December 16:16

      Book the Cook is another reason to try SQ, the menu options to choose from when flying out of SIN are huge. The codeshare tie up with LH works well too if flying UK to Germany and then onwards to Asia.

  • CamFlyer says:
    19 Dec19 December 16:39

    Now just to get more long-haul service to STN, for those of us in East Anglia!

  • Stuart says:
    20 Dec20 December 09:35

    Which Gatwick terminal will Singapore Airlines use or it that unknown now?

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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