SIA gets bullish, goes for 10 flights per week from March

Singapore Airlines is getting bullish on Sri Lanka, with the airline announcing the move to deploy ten flights per week up from the existing seven.

The enhancement of operations to Colombo and back is part of a revamp of SIA’s services during the northern summer schedule from 27 March to 29 October 2016. Tourist arrivals from Singapore have increased by 3% in the first 11 months of this year to 13,468 and  the city-state is a major transit hub as well as a popular destination for Sri Lankans. In 2014, there were 15,762 tourists from Singapore, up by 1.4% over 2013.

In the first ten months of 2015, there had been 75,659 Sri Lankan tourists to Singapore, up by 4% over the corresponding period of 2014. Sri Lanka is the third biggest South Asian market for Singapore after India and Bangladesh.

The airline said it will add a sixth daily flight to Bangkok in March, up from five daily flights as well as an increase in frequency to Milan in Italy.

The sixth daily Bangkok service will be introduced with effect from 27 March 2016 to meet growth in demand for travel to and from the Thai capital. An Airbus A330-300 aircraft will be operated, adding nearly 2,000 seats per week on the route, which is popular with both business and leisure travellers.

Flight SQ982 will depart Singapore at 1735hrs and arrive in Bangkok at 1900hrs. The return flight SQ983 will depart Bangkok at 2005hrs and arrive in Singapore at 2330hrs (all times local).

Milan services will increase to six per week from the current five, including two that continue to Barcelona in Spain.

To cater to peak-season travel demand, five weekly flights will be operated to the Italian capital Rome from 25 June to 30 July 2016, up from the current three flights per week. Services to Sydney in Australia will increase to 35 per week between 23 June and 4 September 2016. In addition, the Indian city of Ahmedabad will be served four times per week between 30 April and 4 June 2016, up from the current three weekly flights, while 18 weekly flights will be operated to Mumbai from 21 April to 6 June 2016, up from the current 17 flights per week.

As previously announced, Düsseldorf will become the newest destination in the Singapore Airlines network from 21 July 2016. Flights will be operated three times per week with the all-new Airbus A350-900 fitted with Singapore Airlines’ latest cabin products.