Singapore Airlines will follow a bumper 2016 with increased flights to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane as it celebrates 50 years in Australia.
Melbourne gets three additional flights a week from July 17, while Sydney will get another two weekly flights from June 4 and Brisbane four more flights a week from August 22.
The Australian flights are among a raft of increased frequencies planned for Europe, Southeast Asia and West Asia from next year’s northern summer.
The Melbourne services will operate as SQ247/248 on Monday, Friday and Saturday using a 285-seat two- class Airbus A330.
Starting January, Melburnians also get a second flight offering four classes, including the airline’s new Premium Economy class, operated by a 264-seat Boeing 777-300ER.
Brisbane will see Singapore's SQ225/266 service move from flying three times a week to daily operations, giving the Queensland capital 28 flights a week. The service will continue to be operated with a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft offering a fully flat bed in business class.
Sydney moves from 31 flights a week to 33 from June 4, but this will temporarily increase to 35 weekly flights, including double daily A380 services, to cater for peak travel between June and September.
SQ251/252 increases from three to five times weekly while SQ231/222 will be operated by a 441-seat, four-class Airbus A380 throughout the peak winter period.
Singapore Airlines regional vice president South West Pacific Tan Tiow Kor said 2016 had been one of the airline’s biggest year in the region for almost three decades and next year’s increased services reinforced the airline’s long-standing commitment to Australia.
“We have increased the number of flights to several cities across Australia, opened a new SilverKris Lounge in Brisbane and launched a brand new service to Canberra and Wellington,’’ tan said in a statement. “It has been an exciting and challenging year and I would like to thank all of our customers, partners, stakeholders and of course the trade for their ongoing support. ‘’
Other increases in the Singapore global network include an additional two flights per week to Rome, an extra flight to Moscow and two more weekly flights to Ho Chi Minh City.
There will also be increased frequencies to the Indian city of Ahmedabad and Bangladeshi capital Dhaka.
