In response to increased demand, Singapore Airlines plans to increase its number of weekly flights between Perth and Singapore.
In response to increased demand, Singapore Airlines plans to increase its number of weekly flights between Perth and Singapore.
The move will return service levels to those not seen since before the terrorist attacks of September 11 2001 and the outbreak of SARS. Both events severely affected international travel.
Meanwhile, it is understood Qantas Airlines plans to increase flights between Perth and Jakarta, Indonesia, from two to four a week, but reduce the size of planes from 767s to 737s, as well as change time slots to overnight flights.
While this will increase the number of seats on the route the move has angered the Australia-Indonesia Business Council.
AIBC (WA) president Ross Taylor said although it would not hurt trade between Indonesia and WA – the State’s sixth largest trading partner – the Qantas decision neglected Jakarta as a source of inbound tourism for Western Australia.
He said few tourists or business people wanted to fly late at night in smaller planes on a service that was more expensive than others. Rather, he said, they wanted more frequent flights.
Mr Taylor told WA Business News there was a lot of disposal income in the central Java region, and almost 5,000 Indonesian students studying in Perth.
“Between Qantas and the WA Tourism Commission no-one is spending a cent on developing that market,” Mr Taylor said.
Qantas head of sales Rob Gurney said he was surprised by the AIBC’s reaction.
“We have an excellent relationship with Tourism WA,” he said.
In response to claims about a decline in service, Mr Gurney said Qantas had actually increased the number of seats by 194 seats a week in each direction in reaction to demand from business and leisure travellers for more regular flights.
“This increased frequency and capacity has been well received in Indonesia as Qantas offers the only non-stop flights between Jakarta and Perth,” he said.
However, Mr Taylor said the Qantas decision would simply push more business towards Singapore Airlines.
Mr Taylor said Singapore Airlines was more agreeable and more frequent, despite being less direct.
Singapore Airlines currently operates three 777 flights daily between Perth and Singapore and eight flights daily between Jakarta and Singapore.
But Singapore’s recent announcement indicates that it will not only be increasing current flights between Perth and Singapore by three a week to 17 non-stop services – one less flight than was operating prior to 2001.
Singapore Airlines South West Pacific public relations manager Sam Stewart said the restoration of the service, which boosted capacity to 970 seats, was in response to increased inbound and outbound demand.
Singapore last week signed a letter of intent to purchase 31 new Boeing 777s, which will lift the airline’s worldwide capacity by between 4 and 6 per cent.
Ms Stewart said the airline had recently boosted some other Australian routes and was positioning itself to capture the growing numbers of people flying internationally. She said if demand for the Perth-Singapore route continued to grow, the airline would look to boosting the service, which it now had the capacity to do.
