Singapore Airlines announces a new "Capital Express" route linking Wellington with Canberra and Singapore

Forums › Travel (planes, train, cruise) › Singapore Airlines announces a new "Capital Express" route linking Wellington with Canberra and Singapore

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Dingbatt

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#1476509 22-Jan-2016 08:01

Hope the SQ pilots have a ready supply of 'brave pills' to fly into WLG on a Nor'West day!
I expect the likes of Air NZ and QANTAS/Jetstar would be constantly looking at routes between various cities in NZ and Oz. If the market was there for WLG-CBR it would already be operated (imo).
Good on SQ for giving it a go and I hope it succeeds.

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sbiddle

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#1476515 22-Jan-2016 08:19

Dingbatt:
I expect the likes of Air NZ and QANTAS/Jetstar would be constantly looking at routes between various cities in NZ and Oz. If the market was there for WLG-CBR it would already be operated (imo).

Canberra was not an international airport and had no facilities. This deal has been probably 3-4 years in the making since it was first announced SQ were interested in flying CBR-SIN so a lot of the airport redevelopment there last year included building those facilities.

There probably isn't much more than can be done in the short term to grow traffic between both countries until the issue of taxes and surcharges is dealt wit which would bring down prices. If you fly between Wellington and Sydney for example you're paying $190 (last time I checked) in taxes. When you can pick up special return airfares for $350ish a lot of the time it means more money goes on tax than to the airline. Taxes to most other destinations and long-haul destinations such as the US are significantly less than this.

hairy1

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#1476539 22-Jan-2016 08:54

It is going to be interesting to see how this goes alright.

None of the NZ or Australian carriers have touched the route with smaller aircraft and infrastructure already in Wellington in particular and now there is a 777 on the route.

QANTAS has JetConnect at their finger tips.

Hmmm.

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ajw

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#1476544 22-Jan-2016 09:01

old3eyes:

Guess this will now be the excuse to extend the wellington airport runway. Who's gonna pay??

Ratepayers are already paying.

https://nz.news.yahoo.com/top-stories/a/30627858/wgtn-city-council-subsidising-new-flights/?cmp=st

hairy1

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#1476811 22-Jan-2016 13:31

You would expect some subsidies though. The subsidies look pretty minimal considering the size of the aircraft the capital is getting.

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Dratsab

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#1476831 22-Jan-2016 13:58

hairy1: You would expect some subsidies though. The subsidies look pretty minimal considering the size of the aircraft the capital is getting.

Around the $8 million mark over 10 years.

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wsnz

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#1476836 22-Jan-2016 14:05

AirNZ's lounge at WLG is already bulging at the seams during the evenings. Given *G passengers on the SQ flight to CBR will be entitled to enter, I wonder if lounge access will face further restrictions on top of the norm.

Geektastic

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#1476887 22-Jan-2016 15:35

wlgspotter:
freitasm:

How can it be a direct flight with a stop in Canberra?

Well, in airline / aviation terminology, direct flight means a same plane, service, using the same flight number throughout. Not to be confused with non-stop. Direct doesn't mean non-stop.

Take Air NZ's NZ1/2 from Auckland to London, via Los Angeles - that is a direct flight, but not non-stop.

At least, I hope that is the case as I expect to get off it in LA later this year!!

sbiddle

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#1476895 22-Jan-2016 15:41

wsnz:

AirNZ's lounge at WLG is already bulging at the seams during the evenings. Given *G passengers on the SQ flight to CBR will be entitled to enter, I wonder if lounge access will face further restrictions on top of the norm.

The Wellington Intl lounge isn't open in the evenings as Air NZ don't have services after around 3pm. This will presumably change as it's a *G lounge and the revenue from SQ pax would be enough to open it.

wsnz

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#1477049 22-Jan-2016 19:53

Actually I’m thinking of the domestic (oops). The international lounge isn't that bad generally, even at peak departure times.

It'll be interesting to see if AirNZ open it for the CBR flights.

sbiddle

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#1477075 22-Jan-2016 21:01

wsnz:

Actually I’m thinking of the domestic (oops). The international lounge isn't that bad generally, even at peak departure times.

It'll be interesting to see if AirNZ open it for the CBR flights.

They will need to because SQ will want a lounge and it is the only option. 40-50 pax at USD$25 or so per head that airlines normally charge each other will be enough to open it!

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