SIA to launch daily flights to new Western Sydney International Airport from November

Singapore Airlines (SIA) will launch daily flights to the new Western Sydney International Airport (WSI) beginning from Nov 23 this year, the airline announced on Tuesday (March 24). 

The airline will operate its medium-haul Airbus A350-900 planes with 303 seats in two cabin classes for the route - 40 seats in business class and 263 in economy. 

Together with SIA's current four-times-a-day service to Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport, the airline will operate five daily flights to Sydney, which is Australia's primary financial hub, and serve eight destinations in total in Australia. 

The other destinations are Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, Cairns, Adelaide and Darwin.

Scoot, SIA's low-cost subsidiary, serves three destinations in Australia: Perth, Melbourne and Sydney (Kingsford Smith).

SIA senior vice-president for marketing planning Dai Haoyu said the new service will "deliver more choice and strengthen connectivity to this popular destination".

"Western Sydney's late-night departure capacity will enable a seamless travel journey and connections through Singapore Changi Airport, to more than 130 global destinations served by the SIA Group," he added.

WSI chief executive Simon Hickey said WSI is "thrilled to be partnering with Singapore Airlines".

"Our 24-hour capacity, coupled with Singapore Airlines' extensive global connectivity, will open our city to the world in new and exciting ways. 

"From Sydney to Singapore and beyond, we are pleased to help herald this new era of aviation that will ultimately give Australian travellers more choice and flexibility on when, where, and how they choose to fly," he added.

The inaugural flight, SQ201, is scheduled to depart at 11.30am on Nov 23, and arrive at 10.20pm local time. The return flight, SQ201, will depart at 11.55pm local time and arrive in Singapore at 5.05am on Nov 24.

Western Sydney is part of the Greater Sydney region and is home to over three million residents and is Australia's third-largest economy. 

WSI is scheduled to be operational from October.

Tickets for SIA's WSI services will be available for sale from March 25.

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khooyihang@asiaone.com