Singapore Airlines (SIA) announced today it was indefinitely postponing the launch of its new Airbus A380 service Singapore-Tokyo-Los Angeles, which was to have started up on March 27, 2011.
The route is currently operated by a Boeing B747-400, which will now give way to a B777-300ER from April 16. SIA joins Air France and Lufthansa in redeploying their superjumbos serving Japan.
It has also followed the actions of counterparts such as Cathay Pacific and British Airways in no longer allowing crew layovers in Tokyo “for their protection and to safeguard their rest". Instead, after landing in Tokyo, the aircraft heads for Osaka for crew changes. British Airways, meanwhile, is swapping its crews in Hong Kong.
For more details, visit www.singaporeair.com or for the regular updates on Japan's continuing crisis, visit www.businesstraveller.asia.
Margie T Logarta