Singapore Airlines has announced a boost to its Australian operations that will see it upgrade its Canberra operations to a daily service and add a fifth daily flight to Sydney.
But the changes from May 1 will see the airline’s service between Canberra and the New Zealand capital of Welllington axed after less than 18 months.
The Singapore-Canberra-Wellington flight will move to a daily Singapore-Sydney-Canberra-Singapore operation with a bigger Boeing 777-300ER aircraft replacing the current B777-200.
The change comes as Gulf rival Qatar is poised to begin flights to Canberra on February 12, also using a B777-300ER.
Qatar’s Doha-Sydney-Canberra flights will double its daily services to Sydney and complement its current Airbus A380 superjumbo service.
Singapore started the Singapore-Canberra-Wellington route , dubbed the The Capital Express, in September, 2016. It was Canberra Airports first scheduled international route and launched with great fanfare.
“While the route has grown since we launched, the changes we are implementing will be of greater benefit to both Canberra and Wellington in the long term,’’ Singapore regional vice president Philip Goh said in the announcement.
The 264-seat B777-300ER features four first class seats, 48 in business class, 28 in premium economy and 184 in economy.
The new service also forms a fifth daily flight to Sydney offering a new late-night departure leaving at 9:20pm.
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The addition of the new service, SQ228, means Sydney customers will get 35 flights per week on a year-round basis with four cabins on all services.
Melbourne customers also get increased services with SQ247/248 increasing from three to four services a week and linking to Wellington.
The aircraft operating the route will be changed from an Airbus A330 to a two-class Boeing 777-200.
The flight will leave Singapore at 7:45pm and arrive in.Melbourne at 5.10am the next day. It will leave for Wellington at 7am to arrive at 12:20pm.
The return flight will depart Wellington at 13:45 arriving in Melbourne at 15:30 before departing again at 16:50 and arriving in Singapore at 22:45
We continue to expand our operations here in Australia and these changes will help to meet the growing demand we have seen in the three cities,” Goh said.
“Increasing services to Canberra and deploying a different aircraft type allows us to offer more travel options from a schedule perspective as well as additional premium cabins, reinforcing our commitment to the ACT and surrounding region,’’
“In Sydney we have offered customers a fifth daily flight on a seasonal basis, however these changes will deliver a fifth flight on a year-round basis as well as a late-night departure.
“The changes we are making in Melbourne will help to meet the growing demand we have seen from the Victorian capital as well as provide our customers with the additional option of a trans-Tasman escape.”
