New SIA flights boost FNQ North Queensland recovery
Initial three flights to be expanded to five in late May
Great news for Cairns’ tourism sector, and in fact for the whole of long-suffering Far North Queensland, with the news that Singapore Airlines (SIA) has resumed flights into the city.
Effective immediately, SIA will operate into Cairns ex-Singapore every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with a further two frequencies to be added from May 30.
Return flights to Singapore will operate on the same three days.
Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, SIA’s regional wing, SilkAir, operated daily services to the Queensland holiday hotspot.
The new service means Cairns has now officially become the sixth Australian destination in the SIA global network.
Singapore Airlines Regional Vice President South West Pacific, Mr Louis Arul said the arrival was an exciting step in the recovery of tourism for North Queensland.
“Our first regularly scheduled SIA passenger flight to arrive in Cairns is not only historic, but an important step in supporting the recovery efforts of the wider North Queensland tourism industry,” Mr Arul said.
“We are very excited to have Cairns join our global network, which is nearing 100 destinations, and we look forward to supporting the return of international travel.
“Our commitment to the North Queensland market is further emphasised by our decision to increase operations to five times a week from 30 May, while from 11 April we will deploy our brand-new Boeing 737-8 aircraft on the route.
“Increasing the number of services per week will provide greater connectivity and help attract more visitors back to this amazing city.
Since December 2020 Cairns has been a part of the SIA cargo network with the airline operating its Airbus A350-900 aircraft as a cargo-only service flying more than 450 tonnes of lobsters, tropical fish and other essential items to key destinations around the globe, including Singapore, Amsterdam, Bangkok, London, New York, Paris and Tokyo.
Mike Parker-Brown is a UK-trained and qualified journalist and an award-winning travel communicator with more than 30 years experience.
Since 2002, Mike has worked as a freelance writer and PR consultant providing his services to major organisations in Australia and internationally in the tourism, aviation, hospitality, recruitment and export marketing sectors.
