Sing Air wants more flights

Singapore Airlines plans to operate nine additional weekly flights from India to Singapore by the end of 2008, if it succeeds to get more slots in India after the renewal of the bilateral agreement between the two countries.

Currently, the airline, together with its subsidiary SilkAir, operates 70 direct weekly flights between Singapore and India, touching 11 points in India. The new flights are slated to fly from New Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai airports.

The frequency of flights from Delhi to Singapore is planned to be increased from the present 7 to 11 per week, that from Bangalore is to be increased from 10 to 14 per week, one additional weekly flight is planned for Chennai, taking the total number of weekly flights from the city to 11.

Speaking at an interactive session, Subhas Menon, regional vice president, West Asia and Africa, said, "The market in India is growing at a faster pace than the frequency, so we need additional flights. We have a commitment to expand our network out of Singapore. The demand for flights to Singapore is so strong, that we are not being able to meet it."

This apart, Singapore Airlines is also looking at increasing the number of flights from Mumbai to Singapore from twice to thrice daily. However, the present traffic congestion in Mumbai airport may hold back the airlines' plans to increase the frequency of flights.

"The increase in the number of flights from Mumbai will take some time. But we definitely need more direct flights from Mumbai to Singapore," said C W Foo, general manager, India, Singapore Airlines.

Kolkata and Hyderabad are the other cities where Singapore Airlines in keen to beef-up operations.