It’s mostly good news for those with access to airports in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne. We go over how to use your points to book an award flight.

Current service

Since September 2016, Singapore has been flying the ‘The Capital Express’ from Singapore to Canberra and onto Wellington and then back again.

Singapore Airlines Capital Express route | Point Hacks

It is operated by a Boeing 777–200, with Business Class in an angled flat, 2–2–2 configuration.

Singapore Airlines 777-300 Business Class Cabin -  SQ211 Business Class | Point Hacks

Singapore Airlines 777-200 Business Class

However, this service is being changed from May due to poor passenger numbers.

Negative: Canberrans wanting to fly direct to Wellington

New service 1

From 1 May, Singapore will upgrade their Canberra to Singapore flight to a Boeing 777-300ER, with all four cabins—First, Business, Premium Economy and Economy.

Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class | Point Hacks

On the way back from Singapore, it will make a one-hour stop in Sydney.

Singapore Airlines First Class | Point Hacks

This comes off the back of Qatar Airways launching its Canberra to Doha service via Sydney next month.

Positive: Canberrans access First Class, lie-flat Business Class seats and Premium Economy; Canberrans see increase of Singapore services from 4x weekly to daily; Sydneysiders gain an extra flight
Negative: Canberrans can no longer fly home directly from Singapore—it’s only direct on the outbound; Singapore does not have rights to carry domestic passengers between Sydney and Canberra

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New service 2

Instead of flying between Canberra and Wellington, Singapore will now fly between Melbourne and Wellington.

Singapore Airlines First Class | Point Hacks

That will still be on a Boeing 777-200 with those angled-flat Business Class seats pictured above.

Positive: Melbournians now have another option to fly to Wellington, along with Qantas and Air New Zealand

Using points on these flights

You can use your KrisFlyer miles or Velocity points to book award seats on these flights. All values are for one-way travel.

RouteCabinKrisFlyer milesVelocity points
Canberra - SingaporeFirst85,00095,000
Business62,00065,000
Premium Economy47,00052,500
Melbourne - WellingtonBusiness31,00038,000

Note that this incorporates the devaluation to KrisFlyer’s award chart from 24 January 2019

Summing up

Most of these changes are good for those with access to Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne Airports. Singapore Airlines’ route network to Asia and Europe is good, as is their award availability when using KrisFlyer miles or Velocity points.

I would imagine that award availability on these routes will continue to be good given that they are new, so if these work well for you when travelling to either New Zealand, Singapore or beyond, remember to factor these options into your planning and research.

First Class comes to Canberra, direct flights between Melbourne and Wellington: Singapore Airlines was last modified: March 21st, 2022 by Matt Moffitt