ACT News

Canberra Airport lobbies for fifth Singapore Airlines flight

Canberra Airport is lobbying for Singapore Airlines to introduce a fifth flight to its Capital Express service.

The airline started flying between Canberra, Wellington and Singapore in September. Its first full month of operation saw an average load of 83 per cent.

Canberra Airport head of aviation Matthew Brown described the new service as recording a "remarkably strong performance".

He and a Singapore Airlines spokesman said it was hoped the Capital Express would eventually run seven days a week.

Providing a daily service would prevent people having to travel to Sydney to fly, Mr Brown said. 

"The Singapore Airlines service has performed extremely well in its first three months of operation and if Canberrans can continue to support the service as they have to date we would not be surprised to see a fifth service," he said.

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"The intention is to have seven flights a week.

"This is a stepping stone to getting up to that daily service. Quite simply it is a 25 per cent addition to capacity."

The Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics has not yet released its November or December international flight reports but Mr Brown said the figures were "very strong".

The Singapore Airlines spokesman said: "Our focus is on ensuring that the four weekly flights are performing strongly and that passenger numbers continue to grow.

"We do not have a timeline on when, or if, the services will increase above the current operation.

"However as we have previously stated, it is our intention to grow the service into a daily operation over time."

The Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics International Airline Activity report for October showed 6995 people travelled in and out of Canberra on the Capital Express. That figure does not include people in transit.

This translated to an average of about 145 passengers disembarking in Canberra in each 266-seat Boeing 777-200 from Singapore and 67 on the same sized plane from Wellington.

Tourism Research Australia's International Visitor Survey showed in the year to September 2016 Canberra's tourist numbers reached a record high 206,915. December figures will be released in March.

Qatar Airways will also launch in the capital in 2017-18.