Qantas expands E190 flights from Darwin, as Hainan Airlines resumes Edinburgh

Qantas will restart direct flights between Singapore and Darwin after an 18-year hiatus, deploying the Embraer E190 on the route from December. The Australian carrier will operate five times weekly between the two cities from 9 December, before increasing frequencies to daily flights from March 2025. Singapore is Qantas’s second international destination served by the E190, with Timor Leste capital Dili being the first in 2022. The Oneworld carrier last operated to Singapore from Darwin in 2006, and had been connecting the two cities since the 1930s. The E190s, which are configured with 97 seats in two classes, are being deployed as part of an operating agreement between Qantas and regional operator Alliance Airlines. Separately, Chinese operator Hainan Airlines has launched new flights between Haikou and Ho Chi Minh city. The twice-weekly Haikou-Ho Chi Minh city flights began operations on 15 January, with Hainan deploying its Boeing 737-800s on the route. <br/>