Summary
- Singapore Airlines will add a new daily flight from Sydney to Singapore starting in 2024, making Sydney Airport the largest port in the airline’s network from Singapore Changi.
- China Eastern Airlines is adding more capacity and introducing new routes, including nonstop flights between Sydney and Jinan, and trans-Tasman flights between Auckland and Sydney.
- Sydney Airport has seen a significant recovery in capacity from China, with seat capacity to mainland China in December reaching 97% of pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
Major Asian airlines are making a determined effort to capture the high demand for overseas travel by Australians, and Sydney Airport has worked just as hard to attract them. Last week, the airport announced that Singapore Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and Scoot were adding more flights in time for the peak Christmas and New Year travel season.
Singapore Airlines home away from home
As well as adding a new seasonal service between Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) and Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) this year, Singapore Airlines has committed to a permanent fifth daily flight in its 2024 Northern Winter schedules. Starting on October 27, 2024, the airline will add a new 06:45 daily flight to its Singapore schedule, meaning that Sydney Airport will become the largest port in the airline’s network from Singapore Changi, with more than 12,000 seats available weekly.
Photo: Singapore Airlines
As a taster, Singapore Airlines is offering the 06:45 flight to Singapore during the upcoming peak from December 2 to January 14, 2024. The service will be operated with a Boeing 777-300ER, giving Sydney travelers a choice of three aircraft types across the five departures spread throughout the day. The daily flights will depart Sydney at 06:45 on a 777-300ER, 09:05 on an Airbus A350-900 long-haul, 12:15 and 16:10 on the Airbus A380 and 19:10 on a 777-300ER.
Singapore Airlines is only part of the picture, as Qantas, British Airways, and low-cost carrier Scoot also fly between Sydney and Singapore. Scoot, a member of the Singapore Airlines Group, is also adding more capacity by increasing its weekly return flights to 12 on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Photo: Scoot
From December, these four airlines will offer 69 return flights between Sydney and Singapore, with Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert describing the airport as Singapore Airlines’ home away from home. Culbert added:
“Not only will this extra flight from Singapore Airlines offer Australians heading overseas more choice, but it will also help boost the number of visitors, especially from Asia and Europe. It looks like 2024 is going to be a bumper year for international travel at Sydney Airport, with extra capacity coming online not just from Singapore but also from other key markets, including China and Indonesia.”
Some firsts for China Eastern Airlines
After hearing from the CEOs of Asia-Pacific airlines in Singapore last week, it seems that Australia has recovered capacity from China more quickly than any other part of the region. Sydney Airport said that seat capacity to mainland China in December will be 97% recovered compared to December 2019 levels.
Photo: Markus Mainka/Shutterstock
By the end of November, there will be nine airlines with nonstop flights from Sydney to 14 Chinese cities, offering 85 weekly return services. China Eastern Airlines is the latest to add more capacity and has also announced an Australian first route and its first-ever trans-Tasman flight to New Zealand.
From November 28, China Eastern will be operating three return services weekly between Sydney and Jinan in Eastern China, the first time there has been a nonstop flight between Australia and Jinan. Last week, China Eastern restarted flights from Sydney to Hangzhou, including an Auckland to Sydney leg, marking the first time China Eastern has offered trans-Tasman flights.
Photo: Kurt Ams
With this new route, China Eastern is now servicing five mainland China cities – Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Wuhan and Jinan – with 25 return weekly services. The other airlines flying nonstop from Sydney Airport to mainland China are China Southern, Air China, Xiamen Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Beijing Capital, Tianjin Airlines, Sichuan Airlines and Qantas.
By the end of November, six airlines will be operating direct flights from Sydney to Auckland, one more than pre-COVID, with seat capacity at 99% of 2019 levels. The six battling it out will be Qantas, Air New Zealand, Jetstar, LATAM, AirAsia X and China Eastern.
This year has seen an amazing turnaround at Sydney Airport, particularly with international travel boosted by the return of Chinese carriers when China’s border and travel restrictions were finally dropped.