17 July 07
Budget
options increase to Australia
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More budget flight options to Australia
are to open this winter.
Singapore’s Tiger Airways will extend
its Singapore-Darwin service on to Melbourne from December 1. The
service will offer through-fares between Singapore and Melbourne from £39
one-way plus taxes. The Singapore-Darwin service, which is currently
five times a week, goes daily on December 1.
Tiger Airways, which operates Airbus
A320s fitted with a charter-style cabin of 180 seats, will also launch a
Melbourne-Alice Springs service on December 1, with single web fares
starting at £22 plus taxes.
Darwin is an increasingly popular entry
point to Australia as it is only just over four hours from Singapore,
while Alice Springs is the capital of the Red Centre and one of the
gateways for Uluru.
Tiger Airways is 49% owned by Singapore
Airlines. Ryanair founder Tony Ryan has a 16% stake and the rest is held
by investment companies.
The new services will effectively
double existing capacity on the Melbourne-Darwin route, with an
additional 131,000 seats per year, bringing down other carriers’
fares.
Capacity on the Singapore-Darwin sector
will increase by 40% or more than 37,000 seats per year.
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