MORE SILKAIR FLIGHTS FROM DARWIN TO SINGAPORE

Airline adds extra flights from Darwin to Singapore

THE gateway to Asia has opened wider after SilkAir officially added a seventh weekly direct flight from Darwin to Singapore.

This follows the airline’s recent increase to seven weekly flights from Cairns to Singapore.

Singapore Airlines South West Pacific regional vicepresident Philip Goh said the service represented an increase of 17 per cent in seating capacity each week, equivalent to more than 8000 seats a year.

“This new service will provide Territorians with even greater access to our global network, as well as providing an additional choice for those looking to travel directly to Singapore,” he said.

“The increase also provides additional options for international visitors looking to travel to the Northern Territory to explore the magnificent wonders of this very special part of the world and reinforces our commitment to Darwin and Northern Australia.

“We’ve seen steadily rising demand for flights to and from Darwin since we introduced services in 2012 and we are thankful for the continued support of our partners, the travel trade and our customers.”

SilkAir first launched flights from Darwin in 2012, beginning with four services a week.

Tourism NT data showed from the year ending in March 2019, the Territory had a 4.2 per cent growth in international visitors and a 13 per cent growth in average spending per person.

Department of Tourism, Sport and Culture chief executive Simonne Shepherd said it was critical to harness the growing Asian tourism market.

“Those Asian markets are really where that larger growth is occurring for the Australian tourism industry as a whole but also for the NT,” she said.

“Our traditional markets are very important still for the Northern Territory … UK, US and Germany are still very key markets.

“We have to make sure we’re looking after our traditional or mature markets but access to those growth markets is really important, so every additional seat we have access to come in is another opportunity for us to tell another person a story about why it’s so great not only to come to Darwin and the Top End but also then to other parts of the NT.”