Madrid is rejoining Singapore Airlines' map. From October 26, the Star Alliance carrier will fly five times a week from Singapore Changi to Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport, its first service to the Spanish capital since it dropped the city (via Paris) back in 2004.
The catch, if you can call it one: there's no standalone Singapore–Madrid flight. Instead, the airline is extending its Barcelona service. From late October, every Singapore–Barcelona flight goes nonstop on an Airbus A350-900 (previously some routed via Milan), then continues on to Madrid. Outbound, flight SQ388 leaves Changi at 11:30 pm and lands in Barcelona at 6:40 am the next day, before the short hop to Madrid arriving 8:50 am. The return leg SQ387 leaves Madrid at 10:00 am, touches down in Barcelona just over an hour later, and departs at 12:35 pm for the long haul back to Singapore.
That makes Madrid Singapore Airlines' second Spanish destination and its 15th in Europe, bumping the Barcelona service itself from twice weekly to five times a week. Across all of Europe, the airline will run 137 weekly flights from Changi. London Heathrow leads the pack with 28 weekly flights (four daily), followed by Frankfurt on 20, Gatwick on 14, Paris on 11 and Munich on 10. Brussels was the carrier's most recent European addition before this, launching in April 2024.
For travellers, the practical upside is connectivity. The new Madrid leg plugs into Singapore Airlines' huge Asia and Oceania network — it's the largest foreign carrier in Australia, serving Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, with Western Sydney International joining from November, plus daily Auckland and Christchurch flights. Roughly 40% of passengers at Changi connect through the airport, so Madrid suddenly becomes a one-stop option from much of Australasia and Southeast Asia.
All A350-900s on the route carry Business, Premium Economy and Economy cabins, so the ultra-long-haul segment is covered at every price point. If you've been pricing Singapore–Europe fares, the five-weekly Madrid service also adds award availability and connection options in a market where nonstop Iberia flights from Asia are thin on the ground.
The one planning note: a Barcelona stop on the outbound (or return) is built into the routing, so factor in the brief transit — or treat it as a free two-city Spanish itinerary.