It is up and away in Australia's Northern Territory, with Singapore Airlines advising it will increase its Darwin connection to daily from March 31st next year. The Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft currently serve the route five times weekly. For those heading or departing from Darwin, Singapore Airlines facilitates the most direct option to Asia, the UK, and Europe.

Northern Territory Tourism is working alongside the Singaporean airline to bring more visitors to the region, continuing a partnership that has seen Singapore Airlines connect Singapore and Darwin since it first commenced direct flights in 1999.

Photo: KITTIKUN YOKSAP/Shutterstock.

One stop itineraries

With Singapore's extensive network from its hub at Singapore Changi International Airport (SIN), the possibilities are endless for travelers. For example, Singapore to Tokyo is available via the world-class Singapore airport on a one-stop itinerary.

Services from Darwin have a flight time of just over four hours and are scheduled to make for convenient transit in Singapore, with the flights operating as below:

• SQ251, departing Singapore at 08:30, touching down in Darwin at 14:45 - Find flights here
• SQ252, departing Darwin at 15:45, touching down in Singapore at 19:00 - Find flights here

Source: Flightradar24.com

Touching down in Darwin

Previously, the route operated head to head with Qantas' low-cost carrier Jetstar, which also operates through its Singapore subsidiary Jetstar Asia; however, its connection has since been suspended.

Having previously been operated by Singapore's narrowbody subsidiary Silk Air, Silk was absorbed into the Singapore mainline fleet during the pandemic. With Darwin now set to reap the benefits of two extra services a week, Nicole Manison, Minister of Tourism and Hospitality, noted the excitement for the region:

"This is a significant milestone for Darwin's aviation capacity and fantastic news for Territorians. Today's announcement supports the NT's trade and investment objectives, connecting business travelers with international markets, and increases liveability factors for Territorians who enjoy traveling offshore for leisure and to visit friends and family.

Photo: Adznee Abas via Wikimedia Commons

Plenty of Australian connections

Singapore Airlines has remained loyal to Australians for some time, first serving in 1967 under Malaysia Singapore Airlines. However, fast forward to today, and the airline operates seven Australian gateways, including Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney.

Cairns, alongside Darwin, has been long-served by the carriers Boeing 737-8; however, as previously reported by Simple Flying, the Northern Queensland gateway of Cairns will be upgraded to the state-of-the-art Airbus A350-900 from March next year. The service will use an Airbus A350-900 medium-haul widebody four times weekly. The 303-seat A350 will increase the weekly seat count to 2,424 seats, a 57% increase in capacity between Cairns and Singapore - find flights here.

In addition to Singapore Airlines Australian services, its low-cost offshoot Scoot also connects Singapore to Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney with its Boeing 787 Dreamliner - find flights here.

Sources: Mirage News