Addressing Crain's an aviation industry expert has pointed out that the recent decision by Singapore Airlines (SIA) to bring down the number of its services from Manchester Airport is a clear example of the danger faced by the regional airports by the arrival of giant new Airbus A380.

According to the recent move, SIA has decided to bring down the number of direct flights operated between Manchester and Singapore from seven services a week to five services a week. This move comes into effect on 5th November, which will see the scrapping of the outbound flights operated on Tuesdays and Thursdays. As an alternative, those passengers who wish to fly between the two cities on Tuesdays and Thursdays need to take a bmi shuttle to Heathrow to get a connection from there.

The entire scenario follows the increase of capacity by SIA on its Heathrow to Singapore route by introducing the Airbus A380 aircraft with effect from September. The gigantic double-decker A380, that can carry 471 passengers, will offer two flights every day from London. In addition, a Boeing 747 will offer a third daily flight.

David Bentley, an Oldham-based aviation analyst, told Crain's that this meant the Manchester to Singapore route could see further cuts. He said that with extra capacity on the London - Singapore route in place, it made more economic sense for the airline to increase feeder traffic between Manchester and London via bmi flights and end direct services from Manchester.

Mr Bentley said: 'SIA now has more capacity than it needs from London for the route to Singapore. Because it is in the Star Alliance (with bmi), it can share revenues with that airline carrying passengers to Singapore via Heathrow. Once it has started to do this, do you think it will go back to operating seven daily out of Manchester? More likely it will pull more Manchester flights, perhaps all of them. The A380 is a route killer.'