Mumbai-Singapore route demand grows, airlines fight to add seats

Increasing demand on the Mumbai-Singapore route is leading to airlines pushing for extra seats. With Singapore Airlines and others trying to put more planes on the route, Jet Airways on Tuesday announced that it will upgrade its daily flights between Mumbai and Singapore by deploying its state-of-the-art Airbus A330-200, effective June 1. The upgrade to a wide-body aircraft will result in 50% increase in capacity compared to the Boeing 737 currently operating on the route.

Singapore Airlines has now increased 18 weekly connections from Mumbai. National carrier Air India, which has daily flights from Mumbai, is planning to increase it, sources said.

Jet Airways’ wholetime director Gaurang Shetty said: “This sector has seen a growth in traffic by over 34% in the last two years, particularly among business travellers. In addition, connecting traffic over Singapore to Australia and the ASEAN destinations booked through code share and interline partners is also growing rapidly.”

“The route is growing in prominence, so we have plans to increase it further,” said a senior Air India official.

As per airline industry insiders, India’s bilateral trade and investment with Singapore and Australia is on a growth curve with foreign direct investment from Singapore in 2015 an impressive $11 billion, covering sectors such as information technology, real estate, construction, renewable energy and pharmaceuticals. The additional capacity will also provide further impetus to growing tourism between India and Singapore, industry experts added.

Dna