Singapore Airlines flies more flights and seats to and from Jakarta than any other city on its network, but where else makes the top 10 in 2025?
As travel has rebounded following the COVID-19 pandemic, most Singapore Airlines routes now see a full recovery of capacity, with the majority of key regional and long-haul destinations back in full swing – some even exceeding pre-pandemic levels.
Overall, SIA passenger flight departures from Singapore have reached 95% of pre-COVID based on our latest analysis, with passenger seat capacity at 97%, compared to former combined SIA and SilkAir operation.
Despite this, the airline’s busiest route rankings have undergone something of a dynamic reshaping in recent years.
Some cities have fallen behind, with capacity recovery reaching only about 70% of pre-COVID levels, while others have climbed the table as Singapore Airlines shifts capacity to different markets, to better address demand.
In this article, we break down Singapore Airlines’ top 15 busiest routes by both seat capacity and weekly flight frequencies, comparing current figures (w/c 15th December 2025) to pre-COVID data (w/c 16th December 2019).
Top 15 routes
Here’s how cities on the Singapore Airlines network rank in terms of one-way seat capacity from Singapore, and how that compares to 2019 levels.
Busiest Routes
by Weekly Seat Capacity
(December 2025)
Rank
City
Seat
Capacity
vs.
pre-COVID
1
Jakarta
16,247
7%
2
Bangkok
13,678
7%
3
Tokyo
12,319
1%
4
London
12,061
20%
5
Kuala Lumpur*
11,840
9%
6
Bali*
11,299
15%
7
Manila
10,843
23%
8
Sydney
10,213
14%
9
Hong Kong
10,206
30%
10
Melbourne
9,359
4%
11
Perth
9,198
3%
12
Seoul
9,198
9%
13
Brisbane
8,484
4%
14
Shanghai
8,099
13%
15
Osaka
7,077
5%
* Comparison vs. pre-COVID includes former SilkAir capacity
Here’s the same analysis for flight frequencies ex-Singapore, a slightly different metric that elevates some regional cities that see multiple flights using smaller aircraft, like Phuket and Penang, into the top 15 table.
Busiest Routes
by Weekly Flights
(December 2025)
Rank
City
Weekly
Flights
vs.
pre-COVID
1
Jakarta
63
2
Kuala Lumpur*
54
22%
3
Bangkok
42
4
Bali*
42
20%
5
Phuket*
42
20%
6
Tokyo
41
2%
7
London
35
25%
8
Manila
35
25%
9
Hong Kong
35
29%
10
Melbourne
35
9%
11
Penang
35
17%
12
Sydney
28
20%
13
Perth
28
14
Seoul
28
15
Brisbane
28
* Comparison vs. pre-COVID includes former SilkAir flights
Jakarta remains the undisputed leader, both by seat capacity and flight frequencies, reaffirming its importance to the airline, following the reintroduction of the carrier’s ninth daily flight on the route earlier this year.
Even then, capacity to and from the Indonesian capital remains 7% lower than pre-COVID, because lower capacity aircraft are now used (284-seat Boeing 777-300s – non-ERs – were the route’s mainstay, but those have since been retired).
Popular regional business and leisure destinations Bangkok and Bali are showing impressive growth, both of which have surged beyond pre-pandemic levels in capacity terms, with increased frequencies and / or larger aircraft now deployed.
London is also seeing strong growth compared to pre-pandemic operation, thanks to SIA’s expansion to the secondary Gatwick Airport in 2024, and that route’s expansion to daily service since March this year.
Singapore Airlines now offers daily service to London Gatwick Airport, around 50km south of the UK capital.
(Photo: Shutterstock)
Strangely, Kuala Lumpur, the carrier’s third-busiest route before COVID, still lags with a 9% capacity shortfall, though this is an improvement since last year, when it was still 19% down.
Nonetheless with one in five flights yet to return to the schedule, the Malaysian capital has now slipped to fifth place in the carrier’s latest rankings.
Sydney is also suffering a little, with 20% fewer flights and 14% less capacity than pre-COVID – even seeing a year-on-year drop from December 2024 with only four daily services instead of the usual five.
SIA recently pointed to “intensified competition due to industry-wide capacity injection” and indicated it would “respond nimbly to market dynamics” in response – which may be what we’re seeing here on the Sydney route.
SIA’s competitors have been ramping up capacity, hurting the airline’s yields.
(Photo: Markus Mainka / Shutterstock)
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Hong Kong is struggling
The one notable standout in the statistics continues to be Hong Kong, which was SIA’s second-busiest route by seat capacity and third-largest by flight frequencies before the pandemic, but now sits down at ninth place in both of these rankings.
There’s still a big capacity shortfall to and from Hong Kong.
(Photo: Hong Kong Tourism Board)
Indeed there has been consistent last-minute award availability for Premium Economy and Economy Class on the Singapore-Hong Kong route through the airline’s monthly KrisFlyer Spontaneous Escapes offer, featured in all of the last six deals this year. Discounted Business Class awards were also offered in five of those six months.
By contrast, Hong Kong appeared in only two out of the six Spontaneous Escapes deals during second half of 2019, despite significantly higher seat capacity on the route at the time.
This trend points to weak travel demand between Singapore and Hong Kong, a city that endured some of the world’s strictest travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hong Kong only finally removed the last of its testing requirements for travellers in April 2023, a year after Singapore fully reopened its borders.
Highlighting this sluggish recovery, the Singapore-Hong Kong route even witnessed what must be one of Changi Airport’s shortest-lived passenger services in 2024, when Greater Bay Airlines discontinued its new non-stop flights after just one month, citing “commercial reasons after considering the latest market situations”.
SIA has still not programmed a return of its Singapore – Hong Kong – San Francisco flights since these were suspended in January 2022, when Hong Kong banned transit passengers.
SIA’s popular and historic Singapore – Hong Kong – San Francisco route still hasn’t made a return to the schedule.
(Photo: Plane’s Portrait Aviation Media / Malcolm Lu)
We were hoping to see a return for this popular service by now, but it has not materialised, and it’s unclear what the airline’s future intentions are for it the historic link.
Top 15: Business Class
Most of our readers are accruing KrisFlyer miles for one of the best value redemptions they offer – a Business Class award ticket on Singapore Airlines.
It’s therefore interesting to take a look at the carrier’s current top 15 routes based solely on Business Class seat capacity, as this too has shifted not only due to changes in flight frequencies but also the deployment of different aircraft types over the last few years.
Here’s how cities on the Singapore Airlines network rank in terms of one-way Business Class seat capacity from Singapore, and how that compares to 2019 levels.
Busiest Routes
by Weekly Business Class Seat Capacity
(December 2025)
Rank
City
J Seat
Capacity
vs.
pre-COVID
1
Jakarta
2,814
1%
2
London
2,058
26%
3
Sydney
1,722
13%
4
Tokyo
1,700
18%
5
Bangkok
1,568
11%
6
Melbourne
1,540
8%
7
Hong Kong
1,432
39%
8
Manila
1,372
21%
9
Kuala Lumpur
1,334
4%
10
New York
1,274
43%
11
Bali
1,230
22%
12
Shanghai
1,162
21%
13
Brisbane
1,120
1%
14
Seoul
1,036
10%
15
Perth
1,036
3%
If you’re finding it difficult to secure Business Class awards to and from Tokyo lately – it’s hardly surprising. While the carrier has restored 98% of its flight frequencies to and from the Japanese capital, and practically all its overall seat capacity, Business Class is still down nearly a fifth (18%) compared to pre-COVID.
This shift is due to the airline previously operating larger aircraft on this route, such as the Airbus A380 (with 60 or 86 Business Class seats) and the Boeing 777-300 (with 50 Business Class seats). These have since been replaced by smaller aircraft on Tokyo flights, including the Boeing 787-10, which offers just 36 Business Class seats.
Boeing 787-10s are now used for some of SIA’s Tokyo flights, offering the smallest number of Business Class seats across the carrier’s wide-body fleet.
(Photo: The Points Guy)
On the flip side, additional frequencies to Bali, London and New York show record Business Class capacity being offered to those markets by SIA – though of course that doesn’t always mean Saver award seats are easy to come by, especially for the latter two.
Again Hong Kong stands out like a sore thumb – with nearly 40% fewer Business Class seats now offered by SIA compared to 2019 – yet as we mentioned earlier it’s still possible to snag Spontaneous Escapes awards in this cabin in five out of the last six months.
Hong Kong had SIA’s second-highest Business Class seat capacity of any route in 2019 – now it languishes in seventh place.
SIA’s latest network.
We recently completed our analysis of Singapore Airlines’ full passenger flight network between now and late March 2026, covering the northern winter scheduling season.
You can also see which aircraft types and Business Class seat types the carrier is flying by route and individual flight number at our popular and continually updated analysis page.
It’s also worth noting that the airline has added service to Brussels, London Gatwick and Beijing Daxing airports in recent years, none of which were served by the carrier prior to the pandemic, though Houston got the chop in early 2025.
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Singapore Airlines has restored most of its network since COVID-19, though the recovery is far from even, with some routes still struggling and some significantly exceeding pre-pandemic capacities.
Jakarta remains the carrier’s busiest route by both weekly seat capacity (16,247 each way) and flight frequency (63 weekly return flights), but Bali, Bangkok and London show impressive growth, with additional frequencies and larger aircraft deployed.
However, Hong Kong lags well behind, with significantly lower capacity and weaker demand, likely in part due to the city-state’s prolonged pandemic-related restrictions.
SIA’s top routes by Business Class seat capacity show Jakarta leading, followed by London and Sydney. Despite recovering frequencies, some routes – like Tokyo – still have significantly reduced Business Class capacity on offer, due in part to smaller aircraft replacing larger ones.
However, Bali, London, and New York have reached record Business Class seat capacities, thanks to additional flights.
(Cover Photo: Shutterstock)
