Singapore Airlines (SIA) has announced it will boost the frequency of its flights between Singapore and Copenhagen in summer 2013 after receiving regulatory approval for its joint business venture with SAS Scandinavian Airlines. The carrier currently offers three weekly rotations on the route, but subject to airport slot availability, will increase this to a five times weekly schedule from March 31, 2013, at which time SAS will add its own code on the flights.

The Asian carrier made its debut in the Danish capital in June 1991 when it introduced a weekly Boeing 747-400 flight from Singapore Changi International Airport. At this time SAS also served the route on a three times weekly basis having introduced its own services the previous May using a 767. The two airlines operated alongside one another until March 1992 when SIA pulled off the route, followed the subsequent March by SAS.

SIA returned to the Copenhagen market in March 1997, this time with a three times weekly schedule but with smaller Airbus A340-300 equipment. This schedule has been maintained to this day and with the retirement of its A340-300 fleet was upgauged to a Boeing 777 in December 2001.

The latest capacity growth has been made possible after the Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) confirmed it had cleared the proposed joint venture between SIA and SAS that was first announced in May this year and will encompass joint operations including the co-ordination of flight schedules and joint sales activities.

“We are very pleased to announce an increase in frequency to Copenhagen now that regulatory approvals have been obtained for our wide-ranging partnership with SAS. We look forward to further building on our ties with SAS to provide more travel choices for our customers,” said Mak Swee Wah, Executive Vice President Commercial, Singapore Airlines.

SIA and SAS have been codesharing on this route since December 2010 and SIA has its own ‘SQ’ code on SAS-operated flights beyond Copenhagen to Helsinki, Oslo and Stockholm, while SAS has its ‘SK’ code on selected flights between Singapore and Bangkok. According to a SIA executive, an expansion of codeshare ties “is currently under discussion”, while possible new services between Singapore and Scandinavia are also being explored, subject to market conditions.

In the table below we highlight the air passenger demand on the Singapore – Copenhagen route over the past five years and how average air fares have changed during this period. With little change in capacity demand has remained stable with modest annual growth since 2008 but average air fares have fluctuated during this period, falling by a fifth in 2009, before increasing again in the subsequent two years.