Confidence grows as Singapore Airlines increases flights

In another significant boost for South Australian tourism and the wider economy, Singapore Airlines (SIA) has announced it will increase flights from Adelaide to 10 per week, commencing in October 2024.

The announcement follows the airline flying B787—10 Dreamliners to Adelaide from last month, increasing capacity by 34 seats per flight, an 11 per cent increase. Singapore Airlines also has scheduled an additional 4 flights a week to Adelaide between December 2023 and January 2024.

This increase from daily to 10 flights per week will create an additional 105,000 seats per annum. Singapore Airlines also has scheduled an additional 4 flights a week to Adelaide between December 2023 and January 2024. This will increase daily flights to 11 per week with an additional 18,180 seats which translates to a 53% increase.

The announcement comes after the recent positive news for Adelaide Airport as several international and domestic airlines either introduce or increase services to South Australia.

Eight international airlines currently operate 45 flights each week to Adelaide, with additional capacity already confirmed for the coming months. The international incoming flights are currently bringing just over 11,000 passengers each week into SA. The new international routes also create new business and trading opportunities for South Australia.

Batik Air Indonesia will commence Indonesian services on 10 November (adding to their Malaysian operations). The airline has announced 2 new weekly services from Denpasar to Adelaide from November, increasing to 4 services per week in December. Batik Air will be SA’s first international carrier serving multiple direct destinations. VietJet will operate five services a week from November 21, connecting Vietnam to South Australia and offering greater access to key tourism and trade markets in Asia. Domestic airline capacity has almost returned to pre-COVID levels, with Qantas, Jetstar, Virgin Australia and Rex Airlines operating a total of 515 domestic flights to Adelaide per week equating to 82,690 seats.

REX has commenced Adelaide-Brisbane services from last month.

Singapore Airlines tickets will be available for sale progressively through SIA’s various distribution channels.Full details of SIA flight schedule from Adelaide can be found in the table below.

Adelaide Flight Schedules from 27 October 2024

Quotes attributable to SA Tourism Minister, Zoe Bettison

As a State Government, we are focused on growing tourism and making sure South Australia is front and centre for Australians considering a holiday.

Increased flight capacity is a great result for tourism and investment in SA and today’s announcement is another great sign of confidence from Singapore Airlines in the Adelaide market and again shows that airlines are keen to fly to Adelaide as new capacity allows.

This is genuine growth in South Australia’s aviation capacity that takes us beyond pre- COVID levels. Not only do we have additional flights, but Singapore Airlines will be flying bigger aircraft with the introduction of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner on the route creating an additional 34 seats per flight.

Tourism has never been stronger, with our visitor economy now worth a record high $9.9 billion – an increase of $3.8 billion in just 12 months.

It is essential that we continue to strengthen our relationships with leading airline providers and pursue new opportunities for South Australia to secure new airlines, increase number of flights and reinstate flights that link South Australia with key tourism markets interstate and international business hubs.

More capacity will assist our strong tourism sector and help capitalise on the significant amount of South Australian events ahead. There is huge competition across the states and territories to get a bigger slice of the tourism pie.

Quotes attributable to Brenton Cox, Managing Director Adelaide Airport

Singapore Airlines have long been a wonderful supporter of the Adelaide market, and they have again shown their faith in our projected growth by adding three additional services per

week.We are confident of further international growth out of Adelaide with positive discussions currently with a number of international airlines.

Quotes attributable to Singapore Airlines Regional Vice President South West Pacific, Louis Arul:

The additional flights demonstrate the strong demand for travel to South Australia. We have seen strong demand for our Adelaide services, both from South Australians travelling overseas and visitors wanting to explore all that Adelaide and South Australia have to offer and we are pleased to be able to provide capacity in advance of demand. Increasing to ten flights per week on our Boeing 787-10 aircraft offers South Australians more options to connect to a huge range of destinations on our network in Europe and Asia.