SIA to double its flights to Chennai, Delhi

Singapore Airlines (SIA) believes its existing flight services between Singapore "� Chennai and Singapore "� New Delhi need to be increased.

SIA's desire to increase flight services comes in the backdrop of an above-average passenger load in its Indian operations and a growth in passenger traffic between the countries.

SIA's general manager-India, B K Ong, told a press conference today that SIA's 'aspiration' was to double its daily flights between Singapore-New Delhi and Singapore-Chennai (SIA currently operates one flight a day on these routes).

The Indian operations have given SIA a higher passenger load factor. Ong said that SIA's Indian operations have a load factor of 85 per cent.

In December last year, SIA's passenger load factor stood at 80.2 per cent.

SIA's flights from Singapore touch down at eight destinations in India. The airline added Ahmedabad and Amritsar to its destinations recently. In addition, SIA's subsidiary SilkAir operates flights to two destinations in Kerala.

In the first half of 2005, the traffic between Singapore and India increased by 22 per cent to touch 2.87 lakh. Ong said that SIA had seen about 20 per cent increase in traffic in its Indian operations compared to the previous year.

The increase in traffic between the countries has been accompanied by an increase in flight services in the wake of more airlines being granted permission to operate services.

Ong said that the increase in competition had not impacted SIA. The pressure on price showed up more in the seats at the entry level and leisure travellers.

SIA's strength in the market for corporate clients has largely insulated it from the price pressure.