Route Launch: June 2012 Archives

The carrier's existing Delhi - Dubai route will receive its second daily flight with effect from 7th August.

 From 7th August onwards, it will also launch daily Hyderabad - Dubai flights.

6E 025 DXB HYD 0530 1105 D 320

 From 25th August, the airline will launch two new routes to Dubai - from Chennai and Kochi. It appears that it is the same aircraft which will operate this rotation, thus delivering an average utilization of almost 17.5hrs per day for the aircraft which will be used for the rotation.

6E 065 MAA DXB 0730 1030 D 320

6E 066 DXB MAA 2220 0415+1 D 320

6E 067 COK DXB 1815 2115 D 320

6E 068 DXB COK 1130 1715 D 320

 Also, effective 10th August, the airline will be launching the second daily flight on its Delhi - Bangkok route

SA220 CPT LHR 1850 0620+1 D 332

SA221 LHR CPT 2100 1005+1 D 332

 And now it appears that the fellow Star Alliance member Singapore Airlines has been quick to grab the slots to be used for a fourth daily flight to Heathrow from its Singapore hub. SIA's new flight will be launched from 9th September onwards and will use a mix of Boeing 777-300ER and A380 aircraft for the operation. 

SQ306 SIN LHR 2345 0620+1 D

SQ305 LHR SIN 2000 1550+1 D

If the slot which SIA uses is indeed that left vacant from SAA's cancellation - it is safe to assume that the two airlines, being alliance partners, probably had already come to terms regarding the lucrative slot pair prior to their respective announcements. How lucrative could this opportunity have been for SIA, is clear from the fact that it already has SQ322 departing SIN just 15 minutes earlier than SQ306, with the largest aircraft in its fleet - the Airbus A380.