Australia-Europe flight bookings through Singapore up 38% in March

[SINGAPORE] Booking volumes between Australia and Europe that use Changi Airport as a transit hub increased 38 per cent when comparing the period between Mar 2 and 15 to the preceding two weeks.

This data was reported by Australia-based travel company Flight Centre Travel Group’s corporate travel division and analysed by FCM Travel, a corporate travel agency and subsidiary of the group.

Bertrand Saillet, managing director of FCM Travel Asia, said: “The majority of Europe to Australia flight connections operate via Asian hubs, not the Middle East, including Singapore and other regional airports, with these routes continuing to operate normally.”

FCM Travel described the increased booking volumes as a “significant shift in corporate travel patterns”, reinforcing Asia’s central role as a global gateway.

As the conflict in the Middle East has spread to other Gulf states after an initial strike on Iran by the US and Israel, aviation industry observers have suggested that Asia’s aviation hubs – such as Hong Kong and Singapore – and carriers could benefit as traffic finds alternative routes avoiding Middle East hubs, many of which are now shut.