Australia: Canberra Airport is buzzing about direct international flights

A trade mission from Canberra will head to China next week to persuade other airlines to follow the ground-breaking decision by Singapore Airlines to run direct international flights from the ACT. Chief Minister Andrew Barr and Canberra Airport boss Stephen Byron hope a company like China Eastern Airlines will be keen to be "first to be second" to fly out of the national capital. Singapore Airlines has decided to extend the deadline for booking discount fares on its first direct flight from Canberra, in September. The open day was massively successful, drawing a crowd of 30,000, a 25% rise on the attendance figure for the last open day two years ago. The highlight of the day for many aviation enthusiasts was the 17-minute spectacular by the RAAF Roulettes. Singapore Airlines regional vice-president Tiow Kor Tan said the company had been humbled by the support from the people of Canberra and the surrounding region since announcing direct international flights. "To show our thanks to the people of Canberra and the surrounding region, we will be extending the initial introductory fares, which expired last week, for an extra week," Tan said. For international flights, new facilities are being built at the airport for customs, immigration and quarantine, plus dedicated transit lounges, baggage screening, processing and collecting points, money exchanges and duty-free retail. The terminal's departure lounges and aerobridges will be capable of switching from a domestic function to an international gate. Byron said construction of the new facilities for international operations began two weeks ago.<br/>