SilkAir increases Singapore-Darwin flights to daily

On the other five days of the week, SilkAir has morning departures from Singapore and afternoon flights from Darwin.

All flights are operated by Boeing 737-800 equipment.

Singapore Airlines regional vice president for south west Pacific Philip Goh said having a daily service would offer passengers more choice and reflected the growing attractiveness of Australia’s top end as a destination for visitors.

“We’ve seen steadily rising demand for flights to and from Darwin since we introduced services in 2012, and we are thankful for the continued support of our partners, the travel trade, and our loyal customers,” Goh said in a statement on July 6.

“This new service will provide Territorians with even greater access to our global network, as well as providing an additional choice for those looking to travel directly to Singapore.

“The increase also provides additional options for international visitors looking to travel to the Northern Territory to explore the magnificent wonders of this very special part of the world and reinforces our commitment to Darwin and Northern Australia.

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SilkAir first started flying to Darwin in March 2012 with four flights a week.

The route went to five times weekly in 2014, with SilkAir then introducing a split schedule featuring either red-eye or afternoon departures from Darwin, depending on the day of the week.

In May 2015, SilkAir combined some Darwin services with its flights to Cairns as part of a Singapore-Darwin-Cairns-Singapore routing that operated three times a week.

A measure of the Cairns route’s performance was the move to de-link Cairns and Darwin in May 2016, a year after the inaugural service touched down in North Queensland.

Darwin was the first city in Australia to receive scheduled Boeing 737 MAX passenger flights on January 7 2018, when SilkAir started operating 737 MAX 8s on its Singapore-Darwin services. SilkAir began 737 MAX 8 flights to Cairns the following day.

However, the global grounding of the 737 MAX fleet following the fatal crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX 8 in March has forced SilkAir to return the 737-800 for both Cairns and Darwin.

Singapore Airlines announced plans in May 2018 to bring its wholly-owned unit SilkAir under the main Singapore Airlines brand. The SilkAir website has already been retired, while the integration of the commercial units of both carriers had also been completed.

Source: Singapore Airlines