“SIGNIFICANT INCREASE” IN NUMBER OF DESTINATIONS SERVED
During the quarter, SIA Group said it saw a “significant” increase in the number of destinations it served, with the continued expansion of its network.
By the end of the December quarter, SIA Group’s VTL network covered 31 cities across key markets in Australia, Europe, India, North America, Southeast Asia and South Korea.
Its passenger network covered a total of 85 destinations, up from 65 in the previous quarter, with SIA serving 63 and Scoot serving 35.
Based on current published schedules, SIA Group said it expects passenger capacity to reach 51 per cent by March.
“This should result in an average capacity of 47 per cent for the fourth quarter of FY2021/22, compared to pre-COVID levels.
“The Group expects to serve over 70 per cent of its total pre-COVID destinations by the end of the financial year,” said SIA Group.
SIA is expanding its VTL network to progressively include Cairns, Darwin, Dubai, Hong Kong, Manila, New York (Newark) and Phuket from Feb 25.
The airline will also step up frequencies for flights between Singapore and several existing VTL destinations including Bandar Seri Begawan, Colombo, Male and Phnom Penh.
Meanwhile, Scoot will progressively include Chiang Mai, Cebu, Clark, Davao, Hong Kong, Jeddah, Krabi, London (Gatwick), and Phuket to its VTL network, and will also increase its frequency for services between Singapore and Phuket.
With these new additions, the SIA Group will operate VTL services from 49 cities in 25 countries to Singapore.
SIA will also resume daily non-stop services to Newark during the Northern Summer operating season, from Mar 27 to Oct 29. With this, the airline will have three daily services to the New York City metro area alongside twice daily flights to John F Kennedy International Airport.
The Singapore-Vancouver-Seattle service, which was originally planned as a seasonal operation, will continue beyond the current Northern Winter.
A fourth daily Heathrow service will also be added, reinstating London frequencies to pre-COVID levels. Services to Cairns and Darwin will also resume in the coming months.
