Singapore Airlines trimming several flights from capital express service

Singapore Airlines is cancelling several flights from its capital connect services later this year, in response to low demand during the off season. Since September, Singapore has flown Boeing 777-200 to Wellington via Canberra four times a week, a service which aviation experts said appeared to be winning strong support. Wellington Airport has publicly linked the service to its case to extend its runway south into Cook Strait in a bid to enable direct, long haul services to the capital. But the airline is dropping three return flights over three months. The flights were due to land and take off from Wellington on August 14, September 5 and October 24. The cancelled flights appear to be equivalent to just over a 5% cut in capacity over the August-October period. Simon Turcotte, Singapore Airlines general manager New Zealand, said the decision not to operate the flights was part of normal operations.<br/>