It’s mostly good news for those with access to airports in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne. We go over how to use your points to book an award flight.
Current service
Since September 2016, Singapore has been flying the ‘The Capital Express’ from Singapore to Canberra and onto Wellington and then back again.
It is operated by a Boeing 777–200, with Business Class in an angled flat, 2–2–2 configuration.
Singapore Airlines 777-200 Business Class
However, this service is being changed from May due to poor passenger numbers.
Negative: Canberrans wanting to fly direct to Wellington
New service 1
From 1 May, Singapore will upgrade their Canberra to Singapore flight to a Boeing 777-300ER, with all four cabins—First, Business, Premium Economy and Economy.
On the way back from Singapore, it will make a one-hour stop in Sydney.
This comes off the back of Qatar Airways launching its Canberra to Doha service via Sydney next month.
Positive: Canberrans access First Class, lie-flat Business Class seats and Premium Economy; Canberrans see increase of Singapore services from 4x weekly to daily; Sydneysiders gain an extra flight
Negative: Canberrans can no longer fly home directly from Singapore—it’s only direct on the outbound; Singapore does not have rights to carry domestic passengers between Sydney and Canberra
New service 2
Instead of flying between Canberra and Wellington, Singapore will now fly between Melbourne and Wellington.
That will still be on a Boeing 777-200 with those angled-flat Business Class seats pictured above.
Positive: Melbournians now have another option to fly to Wellington, along with Qantas and Air New Zealand
Using points on these flights
You can use your KrisFlyer miles or Velocity points to book award seats on these flights. All values are for one-way travel.
| Route | Cabin | KrisFlyer miles | Velocity points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canberra - Singapore | First | 85,000 | 95,000 |
| Business | 62,000 | 65,000 | |
| Premium Economy | 47,000 | 52,500 | |
| Melbourne - Wellington | Business | 31,000 | 38,000 |
Note that this incorporates the devaluation to KrisFlyer’s award chart from 24 January 2019
Summing up
Most of these changes are good for those with access to Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne Airports. Singapore Airlines’ route network to Asia and Europe is good, as is their award availability when using KrisFlyer miles or Velocity points.
I would imagine that award availability on these routes will continue to be good given that they are new, so if these work well for you when travelling to either New Zealand, Singapore or beyond, remember to factor these options into your planning and research.
Community