NORTHERN TERRITORY SilkAir’s newly launched air service between Singapore and Darwin is expected to bring leisure, business and corporate group travellers into the Australian outback.
“The emergence of SilkAir onto the Asia-Pacific aviation landscape brings exciting new air connections, with the high quality carrier connecting Darwin to 38 Asian cities beyond its Singapore base, including cities in China, Indonesia, Malaysia and India,” Andrew McEvoy, managing director, Tourism Australia.
The airline, the regional subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, recently started a four-times-weekly service to the Northern Territory’s capital city using a two-class Airbus A320.
SilkAir, which used to service the city but pulled out because of lack of demand, expects that business is sweeter the second time around. In addition to a more diverse passenger mix, the carrier sees the numerous resources-related projects in other parts of the Australian state can supplement Darwin’s small market.
“Last time it, was heavily dependent on in-bound leisure travel into the Territory," airline chief executive Martin Tan told The Australian.” Now I think with a lot of the oil, the natural gas, the mining projects coming up, you see a better mix of passengers. You see growth in corporate travel and business travel, both out of the Territory and into the Territory.”
With a flight time of approximately four hours and 40 minutes, Darwin is closer to Asia than most capital cities in Australia. Northern Territory offers unique nature experiences with natural attractions such as the Ayers Rock and Kakadu National Park, to name a few.
www.silkair.com and www.businessevents.australia.com
Gigi Onag
