Singapore Airlines will bring another Australian city under the wing of its growing Airbus A350 network this year, with Brisbane and Perth both on the shortlist.
The Star Alliance member already has one year-round A350 flight slated for Melbourne’s SQ207/SQ208 from May 11, while a second A350 is currently running on SQ218/SQ217 until June 30, after which it will revert to the Airbus A380 superjumbo.
“We are now looking at an announcement later on which is the next A350 to Australia,” Singapore Airlines Regional Vice-President for South West Pacific, Mr TK Tan, tells Australian Business Traveller.
Sydney-siders shouldn’t get their hopes up for a ride in SQ’s advanced jetliner, however.
“It’s unlikely to be Sydney because we want a first class product for Sydney, as most of our flights for Sydney have a first class product,” Tan reveals, “so most likely it will be to another point in Australia.”
The coin toss is believed to be between Brisbane and Perth, both of which are strong parts of SQ’s Australian network and host several daily flights on Airbus A330 and Boeing 777-200 jets.
For either city the Airbus A350 would not only represent a jump in the quality of the experience – from a smoother, quieter and more relaxing ride to Singapore Airlines’ latest business class and economy seats – but also see premium economy added to the market.
As previously reported and exclusively to Australian Business Traveller, Tan also revealed that Sydney is likely to see the airline’s first new Airbus A380 superjumbo – sporting all-new first class suites and business class seats – in the fourth quarter of this year but ideally on October 25, to mark the tenth anniversary of the arrival of the world’s first commercial A380 service in 2007.
Australian Business Traveller
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