Mideast airlines heavily increase capacity to Singapore
Qatar Airways, Etihad and Emirates are seen as the big winners after Singapore Airlines has been drastically cutting back flight capacity to the Middle East in the recent past. The reduction is due to dropping demand on the Singapore-Europe flight market for Singapore Airlines, routes that are increasingly served by Gulf carriers via their regional hubs as most of the passengers of the Gulf airlines connect to Europe, enjoying better ticket prices and an extensive network of flight connections.
Qatar Airways just announced that it will increase capacity to Singapore further starting from June 2015 by introducing a third daily service (Gulf Times reported on February 2). Emirates already expanded capacity to Singapore in August last year when it launched a fifth daily flight from Dubai, and Etihad has said it will adding capacity on its flights from Abu Dhabi to Singapore after launching a direct fight to Brisbane in June 2015 which will no longer be routed via Singapore.
All in all, total seat capacity between the Middle East and the Southeast Asian city state will be up by around 20 per cent by mid-2015 as compared to mid-2014 due to the Gulf carriers’ expansion on the route, according to data provided by Australia-based industry analyst Center of Aviation (CAPA).
Qatar Airways will see the strongest growth in seat capacity to Singapore in the period between July 2014 and July 1015, with the number expected to jump by a whopping 40 per cent to 11,500 seats weekly due to the use of larger planes, and later on by 67 per cent in total after the third daily flight will have commenced. In absolute numbers, Qatar Airways comes only second behind Emirates whose weekly seat capacity to Singapore will grow to 22,600, up 29 per cent in the period to July 2015.
Singapore Airlines, in turn, will reduce its weekly seat capacity to and from the Middle East by a quarter to 5,600 and by a further 4 per cent on Europe routes in the second half of 2015, trying to improve yields by introducing “premium economy seats” instead.
All in all and including the other two Mideast carriers on the Singapore route, Etihad and Saudia, the entire seat capacity between the Middle East and Singapore will grow by 17 per cent to 45,700 weekly return seats in the period, the center said.
Apart from Singapore, Qatar Airways has a strong expansion record in Southeast Asia. The airline in the recent past introduced direct flights to Myanmar’s tourism and business hub Yangon, to Angeles City/Clark in the Philippines, a direct connection from Doha to Indonesia’s holiday island of Bali, as well as a non-stop flight to Thailand’s Phuket island and a connection to Phnom Penh via Ho Chi Minh City with plans to introduce direct flights to Cambodia.
Apart from that, there are direct flights from Doha to Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta and Manila, and a connection to Hanoi via Bangkok. Qatar Airways is also the first airline to deploy the new Airbus A350 – a competitor of Boeing’s popular 787 Dreamliner – on an Asian route, with all three daily Singapore flights scheduled to use the new plane later this year. Several other Southeast Asian destinations for the A350 are expected to follow.
Qatar Airways, Etihad and Emirates are seen as the big winners after Singapore Airlines has been drastically cutting back flight capacity to the Middle East in the recent past. The reduction is due to dropping demand on the Singapore-Europe flight market for Singapore Airlines, routes that are increasingly served by Gulf carriers via their regional hubs as most of the passengers of the Gulf airlines connect to Europe, enjoying better ticket prices and an extensive network of flight connections. Qatar Airways just announced that it will increase capacity to Singapore further starting from June 2015 by introducing a third daily...
Qatar Airways, Etihad and Emirates are seen as the big winners after Singapore Airlines has been drastically cutting back flight capacity to the Middle East in the recent past. The reduction is due to dropping demand on the Singapore-Europe flight market for Singapore Airlines, routes that are increasingly served by Gulf carriers via their regional hubs as most of the passengers of the Gulf airlines connect to Europe, enjoying better ticket prices and an extensive network of flight connections.
Qatar Airways just announced that it will increase capacity to Singapore further starting from June 2015 by introducing a third daily service (Gulf Times reported on February 2). Emirates already expanded capacity to Singapore in August last year when it launched a fifth daily flight from Dubai, and Etihad has said it will adding capacity on its flights from Abu Dhabi to Singapore after launching a direct fight to Brisbane in June 2015 which will no longer be routed via Singapore.
All in all, total seat capacity between the Middle East and the Southeast Asian city state will be up by around 20 per cent by mid-2015 as compared to mid-2014 due to the Gulf carriers’ expansion on the route, according to data provided by Australia-based industry analyst Center of Aviation (CAPA).
Qatar Airways will see the strongest growth in seat capacity to Singapore in the period between July 2014 and July 1015, with the number expected to jump by a whopping 40 per cent to 11,500 seats weekly due to the use of larger planes, and later on by 67 per cent in total after the third daily flight will have commenced. In absolute numbers, Qatar Airways comes only second behind Emirates whose weekly seat capacity to Singapore will grow to 22,600, up 29 per cent in the period to July 2015.
Singapore Airlines, in turn, will reduce its weekly seat capacity to and from the Middle East by a quarter to 5,600 and by a further 4 per cent on Europe routes in the second half of 2015, trying to improve yields by introducing “premium economy seats” instead.
All in all and including the other two Mideast carriers on the Singapore route, Etihad and Saudia, the entire seat capacity between the Middle East and Singapore will grow by 17 per cent to 45,700 weekly return seats in the period, the center said.
Apart from Singapore, Qatar Airways has a strong expansion record in Southeast Asia. The airline in the recent past introduced direct flights to Myanmar’s tourism and business hub Yangon, to Angeles City/Clark in the Philippines, a direct connection from Doha to Indonesia’s holiday island of Bali, as well as a non-stop flight to Thailand’s Phuket island and a connection to Phnom Penh via Ho Chi Minh City with plans to introduce direct flights to Cambodia.
Apart from that, there are direct flights from Doha to Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta and Manila, and a connection to Hanoi via Bangkok. Qatar Airways is also the first airline to deploy the new Airbus A350 – a competitor of Boeing’s popular 787 Dreamliner – on an Asian route, with all three daily Singapore flights scheduled to use the new plane later this year. Several other Southeast Asian destinations for the A350 are expected to follow.
