Singapore Airlines has retimed its Capital Express flight to the Australasian capitals of Canberra and Wellington to improve connections with other flights in its network and make the service more efficient.
The airline said the changes to the service would see SQ291 leave 55 minutes later from Singapore and SQ 292 leave Wellington 65 minutes earlier, cutting down the turnaround time in the New Zealand capital.
The four-times weekly Boeing 777 operation was launched in September and was warmly welcomed as the first international scheduled service to Canberra.
Despite some doubts about the route’s viability at competitor Qantas, Singapore was optimistic at the time that Canberrans would support the flights as an alternative to travelling to Melbourne or Sydney to catch an international flight.
The airline’s regional vice president South-West Pacific, Tan Tiow Kor, said on Thursday the timing changes were part of a normal review of the route and were being made to improve operational efficiency.
“While the loads we have achieved for the flights in the first 10 months have met our expectations, we believe there are some areas where we can improve efficiency,” Tan said in a statement.
“Re-timing the flights will assist in this goal, while also providing additional connections from the Singapore Airlines global network to SQ291.
“The later departure from Singapore will allow customers travelling from Bali, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Phuket, and Shanghai to connect to the Singapore-Canberra-Wellington flight.
“These new connections provide a great opportunity to increase the number of inbound visitors to Canberra.’’
Tan said the changes were the result of a review of the first six months of operation and the airline would continue work with partners to develop and grow the route.
“As the first airline to operate the Singapore-Canberra-Wellington route there have been a number of learnings that we have taken out of the first 10 months of operation,’’ he said.
“These learnings were fed into the review and have resulted in our decision to re-time the flights.
“We will continue to monitor the performance of the operation and if required make further adjustments where necessary.”
SIA operates 126 flights a week to six cities in Australia and in 2017 is celebrating its 50th anniversary serving the continent.
