Singapore Airlines intends to increase its India flights

30 May, Singapore Singapore Airlines wants to boost the number of flights to India, where the group is presently operating at roughly 75% of its pre-pandemic capacity, thanks to a robust rebound in travel demand in the Indian market.

The Singapore Airlines (SIA) Group, which includes full-service carrier Singapore Airlines and low-cost carrier Scoot, now flies to 13 Indian destinations.

A senior Singapore Airlines executive stated on Monday that the airline intends to announce additional flights to India in the coming months. "The Indian market is also making a strong comeback. "We are seeing good load factors... we will hopefully be able to announce increases in flights over the next two schedules... whether it is for the winter schedule starting in October or even for next year," Lee Lik Hsin, Singapore Airlines' Executive Vice President Commercial, told reporters at a press conference at Changi Airport here.

Singapore Airlines currently flies to Singapore from eight Indian cities: Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Kochi, and Hyderabad, with 73 weekly flights. Scoot flies to Amritsar, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Tiruchirappalli, Trivandrum, and Visakhapatnam from six cities.

According to a spokeswoman for SIA Group, the airline is now operating at about 75% of its pre-COVID capacity.

Scheduled commercial international passenger flights to and from India resumed on March 27 this year, after being suspended for just over two years.

There has been a high demand for air travel since then.

According to a spokeswoman for Singapore Airlines, market input shows that current outbound traffic from India is predominantly pent-up leisure traffic, with corporate travel taking longer to recover to pre-pandemic levels.

Apart from resuming Airbus A380 flights between Mumbai and Delhi, the airline inaugurated its new Boeing 737-8 service between Hyderabad, Kochi, and Kolkata in January.

In business class, these comprises seats that recline into entirely flat beds.

Lee Lik Hsin, speaking on overall travel demand, stated that there is a "We are currently in a very rapid recovery phase."

""By the end of June, we'll have installed a capacity of 61%, and by the end of September, we'll have installed a capacity of 67%... very significant load factors for April," he continued.

The load factor of SIA Group increased by 18% in April.

Lee Lik Hsin responded to another question by saying that rising fuel costs are a worry for every airline. "We attempt to keep costs as low as possible in other areas where we have influence."

One aspect over which we have no control is fuel. We have a 40% hedge in place for the current year.

To that extent, we have some protection, but the rest is up to market forces," he said.

In response to a question on whether fares would rise as a result of increased fuel prices, he said that tariffs are a product of demand and supply.