Commercial aviation is certainly a world of ups and downs, and that’s not a reference to take-offs and landings. For the last three years, Australia has barely seen an A380, and now there will be three from Singapore Airlines arriving daily, two to Sydney and one to Melbourne.
Four SIA A380s a day to Australia
Melbourne launched its daily Singapore Airlines (SIA) A380 service on Tuesday, and yesterday Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) welcomed the return of double-daily Airbus A380 services. SIA flight SQ221 departed Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) at 20:43 on Wednesday evening and arrived at Sydney Airport at 05:34 on Thursday morning.
The 2012 Airbus A380, registration 9V-SKT and MSN 092, took 6:51 hours to cover the 6,288 kilometers (3,900 miles). The superjumbo departed as SQ232 at 11:46 and landed back in Singapore at 17:59.
Sydneysiders now have two Singapore daily A380 services, plus one Airbus A350-900 and a Boeing 777-300ER to choose from. The first to leave is the 777-300ER at 07:55 (SQ212), followed by an A380 at 11:00 (SQ232), the second A380 at 15:00 (SQ222) and then the A350-900 at 18:05 (SQ242).
Aussies have 111 weekly SIA flights to choose from
SIA Regional Vice President South West Pacific, Louis Arul, said the arrival of the second A380 to Sydney takes the airline’s seat capacity to almost 100% of its pre-COVID levels. He added:
“The demand for travel remains strong in all segments since borders re-opened in November of 2021 [and] the additional A380 also provides customers with access to First or Suites Class on three of our four daily flights from Sydney.
“The additional capacity will ensure Australians have more opportunities to travel for business or pleasure and visitors from around the world can explore what New South Wales and Australia has to offer. Delivering more seats across our premium cabins, as well as increased capacity in economy class, highlights our longstanding commitment to Sydney.”
Photo: Singapore Airlines
The second A380 replaces one of SIA’s medium-haul A350-900s, delivering an extra 1,176 seats a week to the Sydney market to support increased demand over the peak holiday season. Double-daily A380 operations have not been in operation between Singapore and Sydney since January 2020, and now Melbourne and Sydney both have a total of four services daily. In May SIA has 111 weekly flights between Australia and Singapore, with flights to Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns and Darwin with 737-8 MAX aircraft, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.
Photo: Kittikun Yoksap I Shutterstock
Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert has been a strong and vocal advocate for airlines to add more capacity, although holding back capacity is not a criticism that would be leveled at Singapore Airlines. He said:
“Singapore Airlines has been a constant presence at Sydney Airport for more than half a century and stuck with us right through the COVID pandemic. The first ever commercial A380 flight – way back in 2007 – was a Singapore Airlines plane to Sydney and we are thrilled to see the return of double daily services again.
“Demand for international travel is strong, especially between Australia and Singapore. This extra capacity gives travelers more choice and will help accelerate Australia’s tourism recovery.”
In April 3.09 million passengers passed through Sydney Airport, which represents an 84% recovery compared to 2019 levels. Domestic traffic has recovered to 86%, and international, which was lagging behind, is rapidly climbing and now sits at 81%.
What do you think of Singapore Airlines and its commitment to Australia? Let us know in the comments.