There’s about to be one less carrier on the highly competitive Melbourne to Singapore route. Emirates will end its MEL-SIN flights after it recently sought approval from Singapore’s Competition and Consumer Commission (CCCS) to discontinue the service.
The Gulf carrier said that it would finalise the end date after the CCCS completed its assessment of the impact on its capacity commitments under an alliance with Qantas, the Straits Times reported.
Emirates has operated the Singapore-Melbourne route since 1996, except for a three-year pause during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The termination of Emirates’ Melbourne-Singapore flights comes five years after the Dubai-based carrier wound up its Singapore-Brisbane route in 2019.
The airline will continue its two daily Melbourne-Dubai flights and four daily Singapore-Dubai services while also offering direct Melbourne-Singapore flights through Qantas.
After the route ends, Emirates will no longer operate its aircraft between Singapore and Australia but will maintain codeshare flights to Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney.
Emirates and Qantas have co-ordinated on flights between Melbourne and Brisbane to Singapore since 2013 when the CCCS approved an alliance between the airlines on the condition they maintain a minimum number of weekly seats on these routes.
According to the CCCS, the partnership included coordination on pricing, scheduling and capacity on routes from Australia to Europe via Singapore and Dubai.
In a statement in early August, the CCCS said Emirates and Qantas requested a release from their SIN-MEL capacity commitments based on an assertion that the alliance hasn’t hurt competition and that ending the route won’t cause any operational overlaps between the two airlines.
A competitive route
Six airlines currently operate non-stop services between Tullamarine and Changi, with new entrant Turkish Airlines joining Qantas, Jetstar, Singapore Airlines, Scoot and Emirates on the route in March 2024.
EK operates non-stop services between Dubai and Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. Direct Adelaide flights recommence in October 2024.
In July, the airline and Dubai Tourism unveiled a new incentive for Australian and New Zealand travel advisors to promote Emirates’ new personalised stopover program.
