Originally Posted by
ExSin
Thank you MeltingAlf.
Would work out best for my travel plans earliest this flight is operational.
The fanfare will be huge when it comes, you won't miss it for sure.
Originally Posted by
aster
Just received more marketing material from SQ about their new Stockholm connection and they seem adamant on omitting any mention of the dreaded stop-over in Moscow. It almost seems like they just added another non-stop route to Europe judging by the ads...
Not sure what the current travel pattern is for most Stockholm residents, but I'm sure this won't really be a game-changer for them unless - as the saying goes - "The price is right!". Every time I fly to SIN through HEL there are always lots of Swedes on the flight, and judging by past experience they will surely give SQ a run for their money in every regard.
ARN has quite a sparse intercontinental network especially to the further parts of Asia compared to its brethren in CPH - thanks to SAS. There's DOH on QR, PEK on CA, BKK on NLH and TG, HKG on SK.
Flying ARN even on a one-stop for SQ can be dolled up as an attractive proposition to Swedes in Stockholm because they know the alternative would be 1) backtracking to CPH, 2) changing at HKG or PEK - which doesn't sound sane if you're heading to South-east Asia or Australia, or 3) via DOH which *A members might not prefer. Plus the one-stop SQ's offering is on the same plane and a pretty short layover - a little bit like the SIN-DXB-CAI when it still existed.
On SQ's side, the cost isn't that prohibitively high for them. The plane sits in DME anyway, so tagging on ARN at the end lets them gain passengers on seats they would otherwise not be able to fill anyway. SQ would have seen traffic loss on DME as oil prices dropped and sanctions on Russia were imposed. On the other hand, I think SK does pay a bit to get SQ to run this as part of the JV. I wouldn't be surprised as part of the consequence, ARN would be the cheapest European point to fly to SIN on SQ.