Dubai’s Emirates to discontinue long-standing Singapore – Melbourne service
Emirates to finalise termination date after review by Singapore’s competition regulator
Dubai: Dubai’s flagship carrier, Emirates, will soon terminate its Singapore-Melbourne service after nearly 30 years of operation, the airline confirmed to Gulf News on Monday.
While a final date for the service termination is yet to be determined, the airline will continue to connect Singapore to Dubai with four daily flights and Melbourne to Dubai nonstop with two daily Airbus A380 flights. The airline will also continue to offer direct connectivity between Melbourne and Singapore via its codeshare partner Qantas.
Emirates said it would determine the termination date of the EK404/405 Singapore-Melbourne service after receiving the final assessment from Singapore’s competition regulator - Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS).
“When the termination date is finalised, Emirates will communicate changes to affected passengers and offer them alternative travel arrangements. We will also continue to offer our customers direct connectivity between Melbourne and Singapore via our codeshare partner Qantas' double daily flights,” explained an Emirates spokesperson.
The airline hasn’t specified a reason for the termination; however, media in Singapore and Australia cite increased competition from six airlines on the same route.
Moreover, Emirates has been in a codeshare partnership with Australian carrier Qantas for well over a decade.
Qantas operates 13 weekly flights from Singapore to Melbourne and daily flights from Singapore to Brisbane, increasing to nine per week from October 27 this year.
“This is on top of daily flights to Perth, double daily flights to Sydney (increasing to 17 per week from December 11, 2024), and five weekly flights which will launch from Singapore to Darwin from March 30, 2025,” the airline said in a statement.
In addition, Jetstar has recommenced its Singapore-Melbourne services and started new routes between Singapore and Darwin and Singapore and Broome.
Post-pandemic, the Dubai carrier has boosted the capacity of airports in the Far East amid growing demand. In May this year, the airline resumed its daily scheduled flights via Singapore to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This return to service marks a significant expansion of Emirates’ Far East network to 21 points, with Singapore operations now offering four daily flights.
The airline opened its first travel store in Hong Kong to build a new customer base in the increasingly important market. Last year, Emirates also extended its Premium Economy offering to Tokyo Narita.