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Singapore Airlines (SIA) has brought its Airbus A380s back to Melbourne Airport, replacing the Boeing 777s that had been flying the Singapore-Melbourne service.
Flight SQ237 from Singapore touched down at 9:30 this morning on the A380-800 9V-SKW (pictured), having left Changi at 12:45am local time last night. It is the first SIA A380 to arrive in Melbourne since January of 2020.
Lorie Argus, CEO of Melbourne Airport, said the return of Singapore Airlines’ A380s is a “vote of confidence” in Victoria.
“This is the flagship of Singapore Airlines’ fleet, and until recently this aircraft was being used for flights to Frankfurt and New York, so having that capacity diverted to Melbourne is quite a coup,” she said.
“The A380 is a passenger favourite and with space for 471 travellers it has more than 200 extra seats than the Boeing 777 it is replacing on this service. This extra capacity is a huge win for consumers and with one-stop connections to an impressive range of destinations in south-east Asia, India and Europe, we’re confident these A380 flights from Melbourne will prove a popular option.
“Singapore Airlines was one of the few carriers that stuck with Melbourne through the pandemic, and we are pleased to see them reaffirming their commitment to Victoria again today.”
The A380 will fly daily return services between Singapore and Melbourne until 28 October, flying as SQ237 to Melbourne and SQ228 to Singapore. Singapore Airlines currently operates four daily return flights between Melbourne and Singapore: two on Airbus A350s, one on a Boeing 777-300ER, and one on the A380.
Louis Arul, Singapore Airlines’ Regional Vice President South West Pacific, said the additional capacity brings SIA’s Melbourne operations to 110% of pre-pandemic levels.
“The arrival of this morning’s flight marks the first destination in our Australian network to exceed pre-Covid capacity levels, which underlines the popularity of Victoria,” he said.
“I am sure our customers are pleased to see the hugely popular aircraft back at Tullamarine and we look forward to welcoming them on board.”
Emirates is currently the only other operator to fly A380s to Melbourne, having brought the super jumbos back in February 2022 for services to Dubai.
