SIA to fly direct from Indonesia to Australia

Singapore Airlines has unveiled plans for a significant expansion of its operations in Indonesia, including the launch of direct flights between Jakarta and Sydney.

The new route, which is still subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to commence on 23 November 2016 and will be operated three times a week (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays) using a Boeing 777 aircraft. Flights will continue onwards between Singapore and Jakarta.

And SIA is planning to further expand its Singapore-Jakarta operations with the addition of eight new weekly flights. Four of these (Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays) will depart Singapore at 1350, with the return flight leaving Jakarta at 1535, while the other four (Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays) will leave Singapore at 2015  and depart Jakarta at 2225.

Singapore-Jakarta is already the busiest route in SIA’s network, with 63 weekly return flights per week, or nine per day. With the additional services, SIA will operate 71 weekly flights on the route, and this rises to 74 weekly Jakarta flights when you include the three weekly flights to and from Sydney.

Sydney is also a major destination in SIA’s network, with 31 weekly flights to and from Singapore, plus the three from Jakarta.

“Indonesia and Australia are already among the most popular destinations in our route network. As a result of healthy demand, we are pleased to be able to offer even more travelling choices with these new Jakarta and Sydney flights,” said SIA’s senior vice president of marketing planning, Tan Kai Ping.

Flights on the new Jakarta-Sydney route will depart the Indonesian capital at 2225 every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and arrive in Sydney at 0930 the next day. Return flights will leave the Australian city every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 1100 and arrive back in Jakarta at 1435. There will be a one-hour layover between the Singapore flights.

SIA will compete with Qantas and Garuda Indonesia on the Jakarta-Sydney sector.