More flights and seats to existing
destinations as well as services to new cities will be available to
travellers at Changi Airport over the coming weeks.
These could lead to lower fares, especially on popular
regional routes.
In May, Singapore Airlines will launch a new service to
Stockholm in Sweden, via Moscow, while its long-haul budget arm
Scoot will start flying to Athens, Greece, in June.
There will also be more flights to 12 destinations in
the Asia-Pacific, Changi Airport Group told The Straits Times.
In all, 12,000 weekly one-way seats from Singapore will
be added progressively, with about two-thirds of the growth on
Asian routes.
Cities with more flights to be added include popular
destinations such as Bangkok, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Phuket and
Yangon.
Airlines are also adding flights to Ahmedabad in
western India and Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, as well as to
the Australian cities of Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.
The numbers are based on schedules pre-filed by
carriers for what is known as the northern summer season, which
started yesterday and ends in late October.
Changi's managing director (air hub development), Mr
Lim Ching Kiat, said: "Travel in the Asia-Pacific region has seen
healthy growth in the past 12 months, and we are pleased that the
increase in services will strengthen Changi Airport's network."
He added: "With Africa as the next frontier in emerging
markets, we are also excited about the relaunch of flights to Addis
Ababa (Ethiopia)."
Ethiopian Airlines, which stopped flying to Singapore
from Addis Ababa in September 2014 because of weak demand, will
resume services in June with five flights a week between the two
cities.
Changi Airport, which handled a record 58.7 million
passengers last year - 5.9 per cent higher than in 2015 - is
expected to continue to increase flight numbers and services as the
demand for air travel in the region continues to grow, analysts
said.
The growth at Changi mirrors expansion in other
South-east Asian countries, the Centre for Aviation said in a
recent report.
However, its Singapore-based analyst, Mr Brendan Sobie,
noted that while passenger traffic in Malaysia and Vietnam is
expected to grow strongly this year, Singapore, as a more mature
market, can expect more moderate growth.
Overall, the future is bright for the region, with
economic growth and a growing middle-class fuelling demand for air
travel. In the longer term, airports in the region will continue to
bustle, with South-east Asian carriers accounting for about 20 per
cent of the total global aircraft orders, and 30 per cent of orders
made by the budget carriers, Mr Sobie said.
While this may not necessarily be a good thing for
airlines, especially in the current climate, with capacity
outstripping the growth in demand for air travel, it is good news
for airports and travellers, he said.
TNP