Singapore Airlines is returning to Hangzhou for the first time in nearly 28 years, with daily Airbus A350 Medium Haul flights from 1st June 2026.
Singapore Airlines has announced it will launch daily flights between Singapore and Hangzhou, China on 1st June 2026, marking the return to a city SIA last served in the 1990s, before pulling out following the Asian Financial Crisis in 1998.
The Airline will deploy its Airbus A350 Medium Haul variant on the route, configured with 303 seats across two cabin classes: 40 in Business Class and 263 in Economy Class.
SIA’s daily services will complement the existing daily flights to the city operated by Scoot, its low-cost subsidiary, effectively doubling the SIA Group’s capacity on the route.
The schedule
The inaugural flight, SQ838, is scheduled to depart Singapore on 1st June 2026 at 5.40pm, arriving in Hangzhou at 10.50pm the same evening. The return flight, SQ839, departs Hangzhou at 12.10am the following day, landing back in Singapore at 5.10am the same day.
Here’s how the schedule looks.
Singapore Hangzhou
From 1 Jun 2026
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
 |
SQ838 A350 MH |
||||||||
| SIN 17:40 |
HGH 22:50 |
||||||||
| Duration: 05:10 | |||||||||
Hangzhou Singapore
From 2 Jun 2026
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
|
SQ839 A350 MH |
||||||||
| HGH 00:10 |
SIN 05:10 |
||||||||
| Duration: 05:00 | |||||||||
Surprisingly, the timing is even later than Scoot’s six times weekly service on the Hangzhou route, which sets off from Singapore at 4.30pm (except Tuesdays), and uses Boeing 787-8 aircraft.
In terms of non-SIA Group options, the Singapore – Hangzhou route is also served by:
- China Eastern (4 x weekly)
- Loong Air (3 x weekly)
- Xiamen Air (7 x weekly)
2018 Regional Business Class
SIA will operate the A350 Medium Haul on the route, which features the airline’s 2018 Regional Business Class (2018 RJ) product. This offers a staggered 1-2-1 configuration with direct aisle access from every seat, though the seats are narrower than SIA’s long-haul Business Class offerings.
(Photo: MainlyMiles)
With a flight time of around five hours, Hangzhou is a reasonably comfortable distance for this regional product, well within the range of other 2018 RJ-operated routes which stretch as far as Brisbane in some cases.
SIA’s ninth destination in mainland China
Hangzhou will become SIA’s ninth destination in mainland China from 1st June 2026, joining Beijing (Capital), Beijing (Daxing), Chengdu, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Xiamen.
Together with Scoot’s 15 mainland China destinations, the SIA Group will serve a total of 22 destinations in China, highlighting its significant commitment to the market.
History of SIA’s Hangzhou service
This is not Singapore Airlines’ first foray into Hangzhou.
The carrier took over SilkAir’s flights to and from Hangzhou on 1st November 1995, after the regional division returned its Airbus A310s to the mainline carrier, leaving it with no suitable aircraft to fly the four-hour route.
Airbus A310s were used on the once-weekly service, which was discontinued at the end of November 1998 due to low passenger loads, following the Asian Financial Crisis.
(Photo: Tim Rees)
SIA’s departure from Hangzhou was part of a broader pullback at the time, which also saw the carrier drop services to Berlin, Darwin, Cairns, Kagoshima, and Sendai, as we cover in our Lost Cities analysis.
SilkAir returned to Hangzhou in June 2014, then the route was transferred to SIA’s budget carrier Scoot in October 2015.
That makes this revival a return for SIA after nearly 28 years.
About Hangzhou
Located in China’s Yangtze River Delta region, Hangzhou is a popular tourist destination but also an increasingly important business hub, which probably leads to SIA’s decision to return a full-service option to the route.
The city is home to the UNESCO-listed West Lake, the famed Longjing tea plantations, and a collection of historic temples and pagodas.
(Photo: Jason Hu)
Hangzhou hosted the 2022 Asian Games (held in 2023 after a COVID-19 postponement) and has seen significant infrastructure development in recent years.
Mr Dai Haoyu, Senior Vice President Marketing Planning at Singapore Airlines, said:
“The launch of services to Hangzhou caters to demand from both leisure and business travellers to China. This new daily service deepens our presence in a key market for the SIA Group, and offers customers greater flexibility, connectivity, and choice when travelling between Singapore and China, and the wider region.”
Dai Haoyu, SVP Marketing Planning, Singapore Airlines
KrisFlyer awards
Hangzhou will fall into Zone 4 on the KrisFlyer award chart, meaning redemption seats on these SIA flights will start at 15,500 miles each way.
| KrisFlyer Redemption Rates One-Way Singapore ⇄ Hangzhou |
||||
| Airline / Cabin | Saver | Advantage | Access | |
 |
Economy | 15,500 |
44,000 |
43,000 |
|
Business | 35,500 |
57,500 |
72,000 to 115,000 |
 |
Economy | 6,500 | 12,500 | n/a |
As with cash tickets, award seats are already loaded on this route, so you can start redeeming any time.
As you can see award pricing for Scoot flights is more competitive, but remember with SIA’s monthly Spontaneous Escapes offer it’s likely that we’ll see Hangzhou offered for 30% off with the mainline carrier – at 10,850 miles in Economy and 24,850 miles in Business Class.
Singapore Airlines will return to Hangzhou from 1st June 2026 with daily non-stop services using the Airbus A350 Medium Haul, featuring the 2018 Regional Business Class product.
The route marks a return after nearly 28 years, with SIA having last served the city in November 1998. Hangzhou will become SIA’s ninth destination in mainland China, with the SIA Group collectively serving 22 Chinese cities.
Combined with Scoot’s existing daily service, the SIA Group will offer double-daily frequencies to Hangzhou, giving travellers heading to the Yangtze River Delta region more flexibility and options.
(Cover Photo: Shutterstock)
