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Speaker 1: You're listening to Mix one oh four point nine three sixty. Now,

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Speaker 1: Singapore Airlines are going to reinstate their first regularly scheduled

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Speaker 1: passenger flight to Darwin for the first time in twenty

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Speaker 1: three years. The last time the service was active was

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Speaker 1: in March nineteen ninety nine. And as we understand, flight

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Speaker 1: Sq two five one is going to land in Darwin

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Speaker 1: from Singapore today about two forty five this afternoon, I believe.

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Speaker 1: Now joining me on the line is Singapore Airlines Flight

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Speaker 1: Regional Manager, Public Affairs and Government Relations, Carl Schubert. Good

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Speaker 1: morning to you, Carl, Katie.

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Speaker 2: What today, the buzz, the atmosphere, the excitement, It's wow.

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Speaker 2: I'm excited, I'm pumped and it's a great day. I

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Speaker 2: think it's a huge step in the right direction for

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Speaker 2: Australia and more particularly Darwin and the top ends recovery

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Speaker 2: from the COVID nineteen pandemic.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it is certainly an exciting time I think for

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Speaker 1: all of the territory, and by the sounds of it,

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Speaker 1: the same for Singapore Airlines, Carl. Nine years. How come

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Speaker 1: it's been so long?

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Speaker 2: Well, actually before the pandemic, our regional wing Silk Care

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Speaker 2: operated to Darwin on a daily service for about five

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Speaker 2: five to six years before the pandemic struck, and ultimately

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Speaker 2: over the last two years we've gone through quite a

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Speaker 2: significant transformation program which has seen Silk Care wound into

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Speaker 2: the main pair and company of Singapore Airlines. So it's

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Speaker 2: really now Singapore Airlines is the operating aircraft. It's Singapore

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Speaker 2: Airlines livery as we call it. So that famous blue

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Speaker 2: and gold tale that you'll see landing this afternoons, the

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Speaker 2: Singapore Airlines tale. But it's been a while. I suppose

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Speaker 2: we did operate to Darwin as you mentioned, back between

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Speaker 2: nineteen eighty eight and nineteen ninety nine, but unfortunately the

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Speaker 2: economic crisis of nineteen ninety seven put pay to our

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Speaker 2: plans to maintain that connection to Darwin. But it was

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Speaker 2: great to have Silk Care there to fill that void

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Speaker 2: for the years prior to the pandemic. And now it's

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Speaker 2: out turn to come back, which we're very excited about.

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Speaker 1: Yea, our reckon territorians are going to be as well.

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Speaker 1: How many people are we expecting on today's flight.

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Speaker 2: Firstly, look, I can't tell you that You'll have to

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Speaker 2: get down there and count them as you come off,

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Speaker 2: but we are excited by the number of people who've

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Speaker 2: shown interest in this flight, both inbound and outbound. But

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Speaker 2: I think one of the things to be really aware

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Speaker 2: of is the fact that the last two years have

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Speaker 2: decimated the tourism and tourism and aviation industry, and where

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Speaker 2: we're not going to make up the losses that we've

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Speaker 2: all incurred over the last two years in a single

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Speaker 2: flight or within the first month. It is going to

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Speaker 2: take a long time, and it's going to take time

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Speaker 2: to rebuild and get back to those pre pandemic levels.

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Speaker 2: Today is the first step. It's about laying a foundation,

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Speaker 2: it's about building the confidence and seeing growth in the

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Speaker 2: numbers moving forward. So that's what we're excited about. We

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Speaker 2: see huge potential in Darwin, which is why we've got

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Speaker 2: plans to you know, from hopefully the first of May

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Speaker 2: to up our services to three times weekly and if

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Speaker 2: all things are going well, moving to five times weekly

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Speaker 2: by the end of May.

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Speaker 1: That sounds fair fantastic and I think a lot of

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Speaker 1: people will be quite happy to hear that. Do you

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Speaker 1: think it's going to be quite successful On the Singapore side,

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Speaker 1: How are you guys marketing the territory to those who

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Speaker 1: live in Singapore, Well.

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Speaker 2: The territory markets itself, doesn't it. It's the most phenomenal

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Speaker 2: launch pad for Nimlouk Reserve, Kakuty National Park, Ularu. I

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Speaker 2: mean the top end is you know, it is a

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Speaker 2: marketer's dream really because it is just absolutely stunning and

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Speaker 2: filled with so much natural wonder and beauty and culture

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Speaker 2: and history. But I think critically the key point for

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Speaker 2: US is working really closely with the likes of Tourism

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Speaker 2: Australia Tourism and Tee and all of the key stakeholders

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Speaker 2: here to make sure that we're all working towards that

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Speaker 2: same goal, which is to build that inbound travel, to

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Speaker 2: understand what markets are open to Darwin and who has

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Speaker 2: the appetite to travel. And I think at the moment,

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Speaker 2: if we take a step back and look broadly at

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Speaker 2: the world, every country is in a different place in

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Speaker 2: regards to their opening. You know, Europe is widely opens,

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Speaker 2: widely open, but there are still parts and key markets

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Speaker 2: for Australia in North Asia such as China that remains shut.

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Speaker 2: So being able to look around the globe and identify

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Speaker 2: who can actually come to Australia and more particularly the

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Speaker 2: top end and who has an appetite to Well, if

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Speaker 2: we do all that together, we should be able to

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Speaker 2: really target that marketing in a track, possibly even new

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Speaker 2: visitors to the top end who haven't considered Darwin as

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Speaker 2: a holiday destination before. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Look, like I said, I think it sounds fantastic. I

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Speaker 1: know plenty of Territorians love heading across to Singapore and

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Speaker 1: it's been such a difficult couple of years for everybody.

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Speaker 1: And I'd imagine it's been a really difficult couple of

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Speaker 1: years for an airline like Singapore Airlines and then really

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Speaker 1: trying to, you know, to get back into the different markets.

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Speaker 1: How tough is it when you're sort of looking at

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Speaker 1: those different destinations, having different requirements and maybe not being

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Speaker 1: as open as others. Has it just meant that you've

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Speaker 1: got to pivot a little bit?

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Speaker 2: Yeah. I think that the two words that have been

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Speaker 2: most used within the business over the last two years

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Speaker 2: have been agile and nimble. I think that's probably the

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Speaker 2: best way to sum up what we've had to be

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Speaker 2: over the last few years. I think that the key,

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Speaker 2: the key thing here is the fact that you know,

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Speaker 2: we know people have an appetite to travel, and we

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Speaker 2: know that there is a desire to reconnect with those

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Speaker 2: loved ones and those friends who they've not been able

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Speaker 2: to connect with over the last two years, and ultimately

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Speaker 2: what we want to do is provide them that opportunity.

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Speaker 2: Right throughout the pandemic over the last two years, we

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Speaker 2: continued to operate services. We helped to bring seventy one

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Speaker 2: thousand people back to Australia, most of whom we were

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Speaker 2: stranded Australians. Just over the last few months, we've operated

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Speaker 2: fourteen repatriation flights in partnership with Defact to bring people

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Speaker 2: back through the Howard Springs Quarantine Facility, and our cargo

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Speaker 2: services have delivered one hundred and ten thousand tons of

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Speaker 2: cargo you know, to Australia, most of which was was

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Speaker 2: ppe COVID nineteen, vaccines, you know, essential medical supplies. So

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Speaker 2: we've continued to operate to Australia and maintained that connectivity

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Speaker 2: over the last two years, which has actually allowed us

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Speaker 2: to turn those cargo services, which we're using passenger aircraft

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Speaker 2: to fly cargo, to actually turn them into passenger flights

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Speaker 2: really quickly, and that's allowed us to sort of ramp

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Speaker 2: up and put that capacity and that connectivity back into

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Speaker 2: the market. What we need to do now is to

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Speaker 2: grow that, you know, to grow the demand, to grow

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Speaker 2: the traveling numbers, and that is difficult when you've got

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Speaker 2: a different mix of regulations and requirements around the world.

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Speaker 2: But the last two years we've learned to adapt very

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Speaker 2: quickly and we're very confident that, you know, as we

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Speaker 2: work together with our key partners, we'll be able to

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Speaker 2: drive that demand.

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Speaker 1: So Carl three flights a week to begin with, hoping

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Speaker 1: to get up to five flights a week. Is this

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Speaker 1: going to be a permanent route.

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Speaker 2: Yes, So we're actually starting with once a week and

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Speaker 2: then we've got two twice two services throughout April, the

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Speaker 2: seventh and the fourteenth, where we're operating twice a week.

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Speaker 2: From the first of April. The plan is to go

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Speaker 2: to three times weekly and we've got our fingers crossed

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Speaker 2: that we can we can achieve that goal. The key

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Speaker 2: thing here is that we have been a consistent presence

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Speaker 2: in the Australian market for fifty five years this year

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Speaker 2: and Darwin was a key part of our global network

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Speaker 2: with Silk Care prior to the pandemic. We operated for

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Speaker 2: eleven years between eighty eight and ninety nine with Singapore

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Speaker 2: Airlines aircraft the A three tens. It was just the

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Speaker 2: financial crisis of ninety seven that saw us need to

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Speaker 2: pull out, So you know our desire to make this work,

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Speaker 2: to build the route, to try and get back at

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Speaker 2: some point in the future. We don't know when, but

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Speaker 2: back to that daily operation with Darwin. That is what

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Speaker 2: we're here to do. We have an unwavering commitment to

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Speaker 2: Australia and have done for fifty five years. So when

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Speaker 2: you ask me whether this is a permanent route, I

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Speaker 2: don't think anyone can say anything is permanent after the

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Speaker 2: last two years if we've not learned anything. But it

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Speaker 2: is certainly our intention that we get ourselves back to

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Speaker 2: that pre pandemic level of daily flights and again making

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Speaker 2: Darwin a really key entry point for visitors into.

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Speaker 1: The top end. I think that there will be a

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Speaker 1: lot of people listening this morning who are pleased to

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Speaker 1: hear that. I know that you know that sometimes here

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Speaker 1: in the territory feel like we're sort of forgotten a

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Speaker 1: little bit when it comes to flights and you know,

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Speaker 1: being able to travel around the world and even around Australia.

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Speaker 1: So I think that this is a really good thing

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Speaker 1: and a lot of people are going to be very

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Speaker 1: pleased to hear that this direct flight or that this

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Speaker 1: flight is underway.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely and we're excited to be back. I think again,

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Speaker 2: as I mentioned right at the start, this is a

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Speaker 2: great boost of confidence to everyone over the last two years.

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Speaker 2: It shows that we've taken that first step on the

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Speaker 2: path to genuine recovery for international travel and we're really

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Speaker 2: looking forward to driving that forward.

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Speaker 1: Cal Just out of interest, how many hours does it

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Speaker 1: take to get from Darwin to Singapore.

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Speaker 2: It's about four and a half hours, so I believe

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Speaker 2: correct me if I'm wrong. It's about the same time

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Speaker 2: to get to Singapore, effect maybe a touch quicker sometimes

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Speaker 2: than it is to get to any other major capital

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Speaker 2: city in Australia from Darwin. So I don't know why

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Speaker 2: you'd go anywhere else in Australia when you can just

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Speaker 2: nip over to Singapore for a bit of shopping and

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Speaker 2: some food. I think that would be fantastic.

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Speaker 1: Ah, good stuff. Well, Carl Schubert, the Regional Manager Public

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Speaker 1: Affairs and Government Relations at Singapore Airlines, really appreciate your time.

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Speaker 1: This morning, and everybody very excited to see this plane

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Speaker 1: touchdown on a bit later this afternoon.

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Speaker 2: Katie, great to talk, Take care and hopefully we'll catch

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Speaker 2: you in the top end soon.

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Speaker 1: Sounds good, Thanks Carl. That is Carl Schubert there, who

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Speaker 1: is the Singapore air Lines Regional Manager of Public Affairs

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Speaker 1: and Government Relations at Singapore air Lines. So exciting news,

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Speaker 1: I think for a lot of Territorians. I know that

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Speaker 1: quite a few of us like to get across two

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Speaker 1: places like Singapore, be able to go for a long weekend,

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Speaker 1: and prior to COVID, it is something that people enjoyed

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Speaker 1: quite often. As you just heard there from Carl, it's

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Speaker 1: pretty fast to get to those locations like Singapore, but

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Speaker 1: also in a lot of cases a bit cheaper for

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Speaker 1: us than what it is to fly within Australia, which

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Speaker 1: is quite believable. But prior to COVID it was the case.

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Speaker 1: If you do want to call through eight nine four

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Speaker 1: one one O four nine love to hear from you

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Speaker 1: this morning. You can also send us an email if

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Speaker 1: you'd like, three sixty at Mix one O four nine

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Speaker 1: dot com dot Au