Of course the other thing note is that NCL has precisely 1 long-haul route at the moment. So are you actually surprised that they've burst into activity? It's not as if UA will be competing with EK whereas here, we did have the brouhaha regarding "1st direct service to Asia" when SQ may have felt a little neglected?
Maybe it should have been "1st
nonstop direct service to Asia" that way it would have been accurate and not neglected SQ.