Singapore Airlines is being wooed by Alaska’s Anchorage airport to start non-stop passenger flights and potentially make Anchorage a hub.
The idea is part of Anchorage’s plan to increase visitors from Asia.
“Singaporeans are an attractive population to market tourism in Alaska,” the airport told the U.S. government this week. Anchorage said Singapore has a high per-capita GDP and “a miserably hot and humid climate.”
Anchorage is also promoting that Alaska has the lowest COVID-19 infection rate in the U.S.
“Anchorage has been targeting Singapore Airlines’ Singapore to Manchester, England to Houston, Texas route,” Anchorage said. “Stopping at Anchorage versus Manchester saves ~1,300 nautical miles.”
That would be a radical change for Singapore Airlines. Its cargo flights to Anchorage do not fly non-stop (they transit in Hong Kong). Anchorage’s limited passenger flights to Asia include a handful of Korean Air charters a few years ago.
AMSTERDAM AIRPORT SCHIPHOL, HAARLEMMERMEER, NOORD-HOLLAND, NETHERLANDS - 2018/02/24: Singapore ... [+]
Anchorage suggests Singapore Airlines might not need to fly beyond Anchorage to Houston since it could instead transfer passengers and cargo to United Airlines’ Anchorage-Houston flight.
Schedules are a problem. Singapore Airlines flies year-round to Houston yet United flies to Anchorage seasonally. This could change.
“Adding the Singapore traffic could tip the scales in favor of extending the Houston-Anchorage service” on United, Anchorage said.
The Houston flight would not be the only beneficiary. “Singapore Airlines would be able to to take advantage of connections to other United markets at Anchorage,” the airport said.
United this summer was also planning to serve Anchorage from Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco, Anchorage said.
Transferring between Singapore Airlines and United is problematic for passengers and cargo.
An air stewardess arranges bedsheets of a double bed in a suite of Singapore Airlines' new Airbus ... [+]
Singapore Airlines is a premium airline. It is seldom the cheapest since passengers are paying more to fly Singapore Airlines to their destination. From Anchorage to Houston, it is seven hours on United – on a United narrowbody.
Narrowbody aircraft cannot carry the cargo pallets coming off a Singapore Airlines widebody.
Anchorage’s idea also does not address how Singapore Airlines retain service to Manchester. Part of the Singapore-Manchester flight is allocated to passengers travelling onwards to Houston.
Without the onward Houston flight, Singapore Airlines would have to find new Manchester-bound traffic or adjust its schedule. Singapore Airlines previously flew to Manchester via Munich, and Houston via Moscow.
A Singapore Airlines aircraft prepares to depart as it taxis away from terminal two at Manchester ... [+]
Anchorage concedes its plan might only be favorable during COVID-19 while cargo demand is high and passenger volumes are low.
“Belly cargo has the ability to temporarily underpin the route and a passenger service overlay has the ability to help Alaska’s economy using foreign capital,” the airport wrote.
But Anchorage switches between short- and long-term prospects, and from a cargo focus to a passenger and cargo idea.
“Singapore would be a new passenger market for Anchorage, therefore landing fees for the flight would be waived,” the airport said.
Depressed passenger traffic could negate Singapore Airlines’ loss of revenue on the Manchester-Houston flight.
“During normal market conditions the approximately 100 tickets sold Manchester to/from Houston overpowers the cost savings of stopping at Anchorage,” the airport wrote.
Countries grant fifth freedom routes like Manchester-Houston that allow Singapore Airlines to carry passengers between two foreign points.
Carrying passengers only between two domestic points is cabotage, a concept usually fiercely contested by home airlines.
But Anchorage says the U.S. government should give it the right to offer foreign airlines the ability to carry passengers between two U.S. cities. That might help a foreign airline that wants to serve Anchorage but needs to tag on another U.S. city to make the routing work, Anchorage reckons.
It notes that when cargo pricing was low before COVID-19, the market was not large enough for passenger flights between Singapore and Anchorage.
Cabotage would let a foreign airline fly “passengers domestically between Anchorage and another point in the U.S.”
Anchorage is asking for cabotage rights if United Airlines is allowed to start a cargo flight to Singapore via Hong Kong instead of Anchorage.
Foreign airlines do fly between U.S. cities, like Qantas’ Los Angeles-New York service or EVA’s former Seattle-Newark flight. But passengers have to be connecting to/from the international flight.
Even further back, Anchorage was the hub for flights between the U.S. and Asia before aircraft could fly non-stop.
