HK Express is launching a new international service in February with plans to enter the competitive Hong Kong-Singapore market.

The LCC will debut the new link between Hong Kong (HKG) and Singapore Changi (SIN) on Feb. 1, becoming the fourth airline to serve the destinations nonstop. Flights will be once a week on Tuesdays using Airbus A320 aircraft.

“We anticipate a steady stream of demand for travel on this route once travel restrictions ease,” HK Express Mandy Ng said.

The route is currently served by Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Scoot. According to data provided by OAG Schedules Analyser, SIA offers a 2X-daily A350-900 service, Scoot flies 1X-daily with A321neos, and Cathay Pacific provides three flights per week onboard A350-900.

However, the latest schedules indicate that Cathay Pacific intends to ramp up frequencies over the coming weeks, increasing service to 8X-daily by early February.

The planned growth—coupled with HK Express’ entry to the market—means Hong Kong-Singapore capacity is set to rise from about 12,000 two-way seats in early January to almost 42,000 by the week commencing Feb. 7.

Before the pandemic, Cathay Pacific offered about 14X-daily flights, SIA 13X-daily and Scoot 5X-daily. The market was also served nonstop by Jetstar Asia.

The launch of Singapore service will expand HK Express’ network to 15 destinations from Hong Kong.

OAG data shows that 13 more destinations that have been suspended by the LCC during the pandemic will also resume in March. They include Cam Ranh (CXR) in Vietnam, Jeju (CJU) in South Korea, and Kagoshima (KOJ) in Japan.