In a seasonal shuffle, Singapore Airlines will reintroduce daily Airbus A380 service to Auckland from January 2026, while Frankfurt will lose the superjumbo – despite gaining an additional flight to offset the capacity loss.
Singapore Airlines has revealed a new network addition for its flagship Airbus A380, bringing the type back to New Zealand, with Auckland regaining daily superjumbo service from mid-January 2026. The move marks the airline’s first A380 flights to the “land of the long white cloud” in nearly two years, during the peak southern summer tourism season.
It’s not all good news, however. To facilitate the A380’s return to Auckland, Singapore Airlines will downgrade its Frankfurt service from the superjumbo to a Boeing 777-300ER over the same period. In exchange, the city gains a an additional six times weekly flight, to offset the capacity reduction.
While the change means the loss of the A380’s signature Suites product to and from Germany’s financial hub, the additional frequency not only provides additional timing flexibility – it also results in a slight net increase in overall seat capacity to and from Frankfurt.
Auckland’s reinstated A380 service
From 18th January 2026 to 28th March 2026, Singapore Airlines will upgauge flight SQ285 from Singapore to Auckland from a Boeing 777-300ER to an Airbus A380. The corresponding return service, SQ286, will see the A380 operate from 19th January 2026 to 29th March 2026.
Here’s how the carrier’s Auckland schedule will then look, including continued SQ281/282 Airbus A350 Long Haul service, which represents a second daily option on the route during this period.
Singapore – Auckland – Singapore
18th January 2026
28th March 2026
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
 |
SQ281 A350 LH |
||||||||
| SIN 08:45 |
AKL 23:35 |
||||||||
|
SQ285 A380 |
||||||||
| SIN 22:25 |
AKL 13:20* |
||||||||
|
SQ282^ A350 LH |
||||||||
| AKL 01:20 |
SIN 06:45 |
||||||||
|
SQ286^ A380 |
||||||||
| AKL 15:15 |
SIN 20:55 |
||||||||
* Next day
^ 19th January 2026 to 29th March 2026
There is a trade-off, however.
Singapore Airlines typically adds a third daily service to Auckland during the northern winter season (southern summer), and this year is no exception – with SQ287/288 operating from 26th October 2025 using an Airbus A350 Long Haul. However, this additional rotation will end on 17th January 2026, coinciding with the A380 taking over the SQ285/286 flights.
The net result is a 6% reduction in overall seat capacity on the route from mid-January to late March 2026, though the return of the A380 still brings a notable boost to First Class / Suites availability.
A380 deployment on the Auckland route follows recent new that SIA will be increasing its Christchurch services to 11 times weekly this coming southern summer season, for record overall capacity to and from New Zealand.
A380 cabin products
The A380’s return will mark the comeback of Singapore Airlines’ latest cabin products to New Zealand, last seen on this route back in March 2024.
2017 Suites
The biggest selling point of the newly configured A380s is the latest Suites cabin, located on the forward upper deck with a capacity of just six, three either side of a central aisle.
Two of the Suite pairs (1A/2A and 1F/2F) can combine to form a double suite if you are travelling with someone else.
(Photo: Singapore Airlines)
You can read our review of the double suite on a flight from Singapore to Hong Kong in 2018 below.
Although Singapore Airlines stopped short of installing showers in the latest A380 fit, there are two large washrooms at the front of the cabin, one of which is so big it has its own separate vanity area.
(Photo: MainlyMiles)
We also enjoyed the ‘A380 Restaurant@Changi’ experience on board the new Suites cabin back in October 2020 – see our review here.
Suite selection
If you’re flying on the Auckland route from mid January 2026 on the Airbus A380 (SQ285/286) the Suite seat map will now very happily look like this:
The Singapore Airlines site sadly doesn’t tell the full story. This to-scale representation from the excellent aeroLOPA site uses official information to accurately portray the layout, and highlights that all six Suites in this cabin sure aren’t created equal.
(Image: aeroLOPA)
Row 1 suites boast 54 square feet of floorspace, compared to 43 square feet in Row 2 and just 35 square feet in Row 3.
Couples will clearly want to go for the two double suite options at 1A/2A or 1F/2F. Here the dividing screen between the suites retracts and allows for a double bed setup.
(Photo: The Points Guy)
Suites 3A and 3F are standalone options, lacking the ability to combine with adjacent suites. They also have the smallest footprint and are close to the galley, potentially leading to some light and noise disturbance.
While we don’t want to spoil anyone’s fun by blocking the double suites, as solo travellers we would still choose Row 1 or Row 2 for not only a larger suite (Row 3 suites are the smallest), but less potential disturbance.
2017 Business Class
Another great advantage of the new Singapore Airlines A380 cabins is the excellent Business Class product, our personal favourite in the fleet, with 78 of these seats occupying the rest of the upper deck in a 1-2-1 layout.
There’s the option at the middle seat pairs to retract the divider for couples travelling together, who also benefit from a ‘double bed’ at the three bulkhead positions – Rows 11, 91 and 96.
(Photo: MainlyMiles)
It’s certainly great to see this product offered to and from New Zealand once again for at least the southern summer 2026 season.
Auckland award redemptions
These are the KrisFlyer miles needed for the Singapore – Auckland route.
| KrisFlyer Redemption (one-way) Singapore ⇄ Auckland |
||
| Class | Saver | Advantage |
| Economy | 30,500 | 55,000 |
| Premium Economy | 51,000 | n/a |
| Business | 68,500 | 90,000 |
| First / Suites | 93,500 | 155,000 |
As you might expect, Saver awards in Suites are nearly impossible to come by on this route, with the Advantage pricing of 155,000 miles each way currently the norm.
(Photo: MainlyMiles)
Business Class, however, is a different story. Here there are plenty of opportunities to redeem at the saver rate of 68,500 miles one-way, thanks to the larger 78 seat cabin on the A380, a 63% capacity hike compared to the 777-300ER.
(Photo: Agent Wolf / Shutterstock)
The bad news: Frankfurt loses the A380
Normally we’d be thrilled to report on a new (or at least reinstated) Singapore Airlines A380 route, but there’s more to the story here.
Frankfurt, currently served once daily by the Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 and once by a Boeing 777-300ER – the latter continuing to and from New York – will see its A380 flight (SQ326/325) downgraded to another daily 777-300ER service from 18th January 2026.
On the flip side, an additional six times weekly Airbus A350 Long Haul flight (SQ330/329) will be added to the mix, protecting overall seat capacity on the route.
Here’s how the airline’s Frankfurt schedule looks during that period.
Singapore – Frankfurt – Singapore
18th January 2026
28th March 2026
* Next day
^ – 19th January 2026 to 29th March 2026
Status quo from April 2026?
Provisionally, Singapore Airlines is loading its usual northern summer schedule on these routes from 29th March 2026:
- Auckland
1 x daily Airbus A350 LH (SQ285/286) - Frankfurt
1 x daily Airbus A380 (SQ326/325)
1 x daily Boeing 777-300ER (SQ26/25)
However, aircraft assignments for summer 2026 remain provisional at this stage.
Singapore Airlines typically finalises its summer season aircraft allocations in December or January, meaning the currently-listed aircraft deployment could still be adjusted, based on demand, fleet availability, or other operational considerations.
Watch this space for the latest details on that for Auckland and Frankfurt flights in due course.
Singapore Airlines’ decision to reinstate Airbus A380 service to Auckland from January 2026 is great news for travellers to and from New Zealand, with the carrier’s latest Suites and Business Class products returning for the southern summer season.
However, the move comes at the expense of Frankfurt, which will temporarily lose its A380 flights, though a third service six days per week helps offset the impact with a slight boost to overall capacity.
With more award space in Business Class to Auckland and enhanced flexibility for Frankfurt-bound passengers, the seasonal reshuffle seems to reflect SIA’s efforts to match aircraft deployment with peak demand, like we are seeing this winter on Bali flights – even if it means some trade-offs along the way.
While arrangements on these routes return to normal from April next year, aircraft assignments for the summer 2026 season remain provisional, and we’ll be watching closely for any further adjustments.
(Cover Photo: Mike Fuchslocher / Shutterstock)
