Back in January this year, we reported on the Qantas Group’s return to the Singapore – Darwin route from late 2024, with five times weekly flights using 94-seat Embraer E190 regional jets under its QantasLink banner set to take wing, for the first time since Jetstar plied the city pair in 2022.

Things haven’t quite followed the original plan, with service launch now postponed to late March 2025, but a brand new larger aircraft type has been allocated, in the form of the Airbus A220-300.

This will mark the first passenger flights with the new aircraft type to and from Singapore, and the second regional jet regularly used at Changi Airport, with SIA’s low-cost subsidiary Scoot now also flying Embraer E190-E2 jets on a variety of shorter routes.

The schedule

Here’s how the schedule looks for the new Qantas flights between Singapore and Darwin, with a flight time of 4 hours 50 minutes in each direction.

Qantas
Singapore – Darwin
(from 30 March 2025)

			Days
			M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	QF282 A220
SIN 22:25		DRW 04:45*
Duration: 04:50
	QF281 A220
DRW 15:55		SIN 19:15
Duration: 04:50

* Next day

Qantas previously flew between Singapore and Darwin way back in 2006, but the route was later operated by low-cost subsidiary Jetstar Asia until 2022.

Flights will operate to and from Terminal 1 at Changi Airport, with eligible passengers able to take advantage of the Qantas Business and First lounges there.

Compared with the original flight timings, arrival into Singapore has been brought forward from 9.25pm to 7.15pm, which will allow a longer four-hour connection to the airline’s QF1 Singapore – London service.

In the opposite direction passengers arriving into Singapore from London on QF2 will be able to transit at Changi for around five hours, before heading on to Darwin.

This connection was flagged by Qantas as an important element of this service when it was first announced in early 2024.

The flights will provide Territorians with a direct Qantas option to Singapore and also a seamless connection to London on QF1, as well as other destinations across Europe or Asia with partner airlines. Qantas customers travelling from Darwin will save around five hours in flying time by no longer having to fly via other Australian capital cities to get to London.

Qantas, January 2024

Services on this route were originally due to increase to daily from March 2025, but will now retain five times weekly frequency, with increased capacity thanks to use of the larger Airbus A220 jets.

While these new flights were due to mark Changi Airport’s smallest regional jet service, with just 94 seats, the increased capacity of the Qantas A220 means that Scoot will continue to hold that accolade with its 112-seat Embraer E190-E2 jets.

As for the Singapore – Darwin route – that’s currently exclusive to Singapore Airlines, with the carrier operating daily Boeing 737-8 MAX flights on the route.

In contrast to Qantas, SIA currently offers a morning flight from Singapore to Darwin, and an afternoon timing in the return direction.

The QantasLink Airbus A220

Despite the delay in the launch of this service, Qantas passengers will now benefit from the newer and larger Airbus A220-300 aircraft, operated for QantasLink by National Jet Systems.

With four A220s in the fleet and 25 more on order, the aircraft is set to become a regular sight at Australian airports, but this will be the first international route for the jets in Qantas colours.

The Airbus A220-300 has an impressive maximum range of 6,300km, enough to fly from Darwin to Sapporo, Japan in about 7.5 hours, so this 3,300km jaunt between Singapore and the Northern Territory is hardly testing the aircraft’s limit.

The QantasLink A220 jets that will be operating on the Singapore – Darwin route are configured with 137 seats in total, comprising;

• 10 Business Class (2-2 config)
• 127 Economy Class (2-3 config)

Here’s how the seat map looks, from the excellent aeroLOPA site.

Qantas also offers its own seat map for this aircraft type here.

Business Class is in a 2-2 configuration with 37-inch seat pitch and 5-inch recline.

These seats also have a six-way adjustable headrest, calf rest and footrest, tablet holder, wireless charging pads, dual USB-A and USB-C charging ports, plus an extendable cocktail table in addition to the regular tray table.

They are definitely an improvement on the Embraer E190 Business Class seats originally destined to operate this route, though that one did have the benefit of a relatively unique ‘solo’ seat by the window on the left side, thanks to its 1-2 configuration.

Nonetheless both seats are more akin to a domestic Business / First Class product – there are no flat beds to look forward to here like there are on Singapore Airlines’ Boeing 737-8 MAX jets.

In Economy Class, couples will no doubt want to secure the A/C pairs by the left side, the forward six rows of which (4AC to 9AC) benefit from 34-inch seat pitch, four inches more than the rest of the aircraft.

The exception of course is Row 12, which has 37-inch pitch, since it is the emergency exit row.

All seats in Economy Class are 18 inches wide, which is slightly better than Singapore Airlines offers on its Boeing 737-8 MAX aircraft (17.7 inches). Dual USB-A and USB-C charging ports are available, along with an integrated drop-down tablet holder.

Award rates

Award seats have already been loaded for Qantas Frequent Flyer members and those holding miles with partner programmes on many of these upcoming Singapore – Darwin flights, with the following rates applicable.

Qantas Award Rates

FFP	Singapore – Darwin
	Economy	Business
	13,000 +S$124	38,750 +S$209
	15,000 +S$124	33,000 +S$209
	18,000 +S$124	41,500 +S$209
	26,000 +S$124	52,000 +S$209
	30,000 +S$84	40,000 +S$84

The best award space is via Qantas Frequent Flyer, as you’d expect.

Nonetheless, we’re also seeing availability for partner frequent flyer programmes, via the American Airlines search portal, but remember popular programmes like British Airways Avios and Asia Miles cannot display QantasLink award space like American Airlines can.

Use the American site to find the partner award space, then call to book in these cases, if you wish to redeem Avios for example.

For comparison, Singapore Airlines charges 21,500 KrisFlyer miles for a one-way saver award in Economy Class on this route, increasing to 40,500 KrisFlyer miles in Business Class.

Qantas had planned to relaunch its Singapore – Darwin flights after an 18-year hiatus using Embraer E190 aircraft from its QantasLink subsidiary, from December 2024, but the plans have changes a little since first being announced.

The route will now launch in late March 2025 using the carrier’s latest Airbus A220 aircraft instead, which boast more seats and a more modern cabin product – good news for passengers.

Despite some minor tweaks, flight timings are still designed primarily for connecting passengers, especially to and from London, supporting transits through Changi to and from QF1/2 Airbus A380 services – quite the contrast having stepped off one of the airline’s smallest jets!

Award space is available on this route from 13,000 miles one-way, a big saving on the 21,500 KrisFlyer miles Singapore Airlines is charging for an Economy Class saver redemption between Singapore and Darwin.

(Cover Photo: Qantas)