Global aviation partners Air India and Singapore Airlines (SIA) today unveiled an expansion of their codeshare arrangement, adding 51 destinations — of which 11 are Indian cities and 40 are international cities — to their map.
A joint press release said: “This marks the first extensive expansion of codeshare arrangements between the airlines since 2010, offering customers enhanced travel options between Singapore and India, as well as beyond.”
It added: “From 27 October 2024, Air India and SIA will codeshare on each other’s flights between Singapore and the Indian cities of Bengaluru and Chennai, increasing their total weekly scheduled codeshare services between the countries to 56 from 14.”
Singapore Airlines will codeshare on Air India’s domestic flights:
between Delhi and Amritsar, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Lucknow, and Varanasi;
between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Goa, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, and Thiruvananthapuram;
between Kolkata and Guwahati.
Benefit for Air India customers
Following this expansion of codeshare, Air India customers will be able to access 29 destinations across the Singapore Airlines network. These are:
Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney (Australia);
Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei);
Phnom Penh and Siem Reap (Cambodia);
Denpasar, Jakarta, Medan, and Surabaya (Indonesia);
Fukuoka, Nagoya, Osaka, Tokyo-Haneda, and Tokyo-Narita (Japan);
Busan and Seoul (South Korea);
Kuala Lumpur and Penang (Malaysia);
this includes existing codeshare arrangements to Kuala Lumpur
Auckland (New Zealand);
Cebu and Manila (the Philippines);
Danang, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam).
Benefit for Singapore Airlines customers
Singapore Airlines customers will also be able to connect to Air India’s international services from Bengaluru, Delhi, and Mumbai to 12 destinations across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. These are:
Copenhagen (Denmark);
Paris (France);
Frankfurt (Germany);
Milan (Italy);
Nairobi (Kenya);
Amsterdam (the Netherlands);
Jeddah and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia);
Colombo (Sri Lanka);
Birmingham, London-Gatwick, and London-Heathrow (United Kingdom).
Both airlines plan to “progressively include other destinations in their network to the codeshare arrangements”, said the press release. “Subject to regulatory approvals, the codeshare flights will be progressively made available for sale through the airlines’ respective booking channels,” it added.
What the two partner airlines say
Nipun Aggarwal, Chief Commercial Officer, Air India, said, “This is a continuation of our effort to offer our guests more choice and an extended global network. Air India and Singapore Airlines have been longtime partners, and with this expanded scope of our codeshare agreement, we are excited to offer our guests greater connectivity to destinations across South East Asia, the Far East, and Australasia.
“We also look forward to welcoming Singapore Airlines customers on board our flights within India as well as westward to multiple points across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East via our hubs in India.”
Lee Lik Hsin, Chief Commercial Officer, Singapore Airlines, said, “This expansion of Singapore Airlines’ codeshare arrangements with Air India reflects the strong collaborative spirit between our two carriers. It demonstrates our commitment to meeting the high demand for air travel between India and Singapore and beyond, and contributing to the growth of both aviation markets. Adding Air India’s domestic network to our codeshare arrangements will also offer our customers enhanced connectivity and convenience in India, which is a key market for the SIA Group.”
(The article is published under a mutual content partnership arrangement between The Free Press Journal and Connected To India)