Singapore Airlines adding fifth weekly flight to Kolkata

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) will introduce a fifth weekly flight to Kolkata, India, from March 29.

On the same day, its regional wing SilkAir will cease services to the city as part of the group's integration plans, the flag carrier said in a press statement on Wednesday afternoon.

SIA currently operates four weekly flights to Kolkata while SilkAir operates three.

Sales for the additional Kolkata flights will start from Jan 8. Customers with existing bookings on SilkAir's Kolkata flights on and after March 29 will be re-accommodated on SIA's flights.

SIA's Kolkata services will continue to be operated by the Airbus A350-900 medium haul aircraft, which features 40 Business Class and 263 Economy Class seats.

Besides Kolkata, SIA also flies to five other destinations in India: Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and New Delhi.

Following this change, SilkAir will continue to operate to four cities in India: Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi.

Separately, Bloomberg on Wednesday morning reported that SIA is diverting its flights in the Iranian airspace to Europe after Iran fired missiles at joint US-Iraqi airbases.

As at 2.54pm on Wednesday, SIA shares were down eight Singapore cents or 0.8 per cent to S$8.94.