Qantas already has a significant presence in Singapore – in addition to connecting it with multiple Australian cities, it also operates a fifth freedom route to London. In December 2024, the airline plans to launch Darwin – Singapore route, expanding its presence even further.
Continue reading to learn more.
Qantas’s Upcoming Darwin – Singapore Route
On January 17, 2024, Qantas announced it will launch flights between Darwin, the capital of Australia’s Northern Territory, and Singapore starting on December 9, 2024. The route will initially be operated five times a week with the following schedule:
- QF353 / Darwin – Singapore / 6:05PM – 9:25PM / Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun
- QF354 / Singapore – Darwin / 10:25PM – 4:45AM+1 / Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun
From March 2025, Qantas plans to increase the frequency on the route to daily.
Interestingly, Qantas will use Embraer E190s on the five-hour flights. These are operated by Alliance Airlines on behalf of the Australian flag carrier’s regional subsidiary QantasLink.
The E190s come in two different two-class configurations, one with 94 and the other with 97 seats. While the former has 10 business class seats in a 1-2 layout and 84 economy class seats in a 2-2 layout, the latter has 9 and 88 seats in the respective classes.
According to the airline, “The new route has been made possible by the establishment of the E190 base at Darwin Airport, with the size, range, and economics of the aircraft opening up routes that wouldn’t be viable with larger aircraft.”
Qantas first operated flights between Darwin and Singapore in 1935 when they were a part of its Kangaroo Route between Australia and London. In more recent history, Qantas operated standalone Darwin – Singapore flights up until 2006.
Currently, Singapore Airlines operates the route five times a week with its 737-8s.
Qantas’s Significant Presence in Singapore
Singapore’s advantageous location and strong ties between the city-state and Australia (Australia was the first country to establish diplomatic relations with Singapore after the latter became independent), it is no surprise that there are dozens of daily flights connecting the two.
Zooming in on Qantas, the airline currently connects Singapore with four Australian cities (all using widebody aircraft unlike the upcoming Darwin route):
- Brisbane (daily A330-200)
- Melbourne (12x week A330-200)
- Perth (daily A330-200)
- Sydney (daily A380, 7x week A330-300, and 1x week A330-200)
Additionally, as briefly mentioned at the beginning of this article, Qantas also flies – and has fifth-freedom rights – between Singapore and London Heathrow. Specifically, the Singapore – London leg is part of the airline’s flagship flights QF1/QF2 which connect Sydney with London via Singapore using the A380 (included in the list above).
In fact, the upcoming flights between Darwin and Singapore will offer, according to the airline’s statement, “a seamless connection to London on QF1” and “Qantas customers traveling from Darwin will save around five hours in flying time by no longer having to fly via other Australian capital cities to get to London.”
Summary
From December 9, 2024, Qantas will offer non-stop flights between Darwin and Singapore. Initially, they will operate five times a week but the airline plans to turn them daily at a few months after the launch.
While all current Qantas flights to Australia are operated by widebody aircraft (primarily the A330), the nearly five-hour flights to Darwin will be operated by aircraft owned by Alliance Airlines and flown on behalf of QantasLink, Qantas’s regional subsidiary. Qantas will compete with Singapore Airlines on the route.
