Singapore Airlines has announced the long-awaited restoration of full pre-pandemic flight frequencies on its popular Brisbane route, set to take effect around five months from now, in a move that will see the airline exceed its previous seat capacity by operating four daily flights with Airbus A350 Medium Haul aircraft.

The airline will increase its weekly services to 28, a 12% hike from the current 25 weekly flights.

“This is a milestone announcement delivering four services per day, every day, marking the end of a long five-year recovery on this critical route for Queensland.”

Gert-Jan de Graaff, CEO, Brisbane Airport

The news comes as Brisbane Airport also announced that its international terminal had recorded its busiest ever month in December 2024, with more passengers passing through than during the previous peak in January 2020, just before the pandemic hit.

The schedule

The new SQ265/266 flights on the Singapore – Brisbane route will “fill in the gaps” in the existing schedule on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 16th June 2025, making all four services daily from that date onwards.

SQ265 departs from Singapore Changi Airport at 7.10am local time and arrives in Brisbane at 4.45pm. This meets connections from many European cities including London, Paris and Rome, plus a variety of destinations in India, the USA, Japan and South Africa.

The return service, SQ266, departs Brisbane at 6.10pm and arrives in Singapore shortly after midnight the following day. This one primarily offers well-timed onward connections to Europe, North Asia and South Africa.

Here’s how the Brisbane schedule looks once the new flights are introduced, which are highlighted below in the tables.

Singapore Brisbane
From 16th June 2025

			Days
			M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	SQ255 A350 MH
SIN 00:45		BNE 10:20
Duration: 07:35
	SQ265 A350 MH
SIN 07:10		BNE 16:45
Duration: 07:35
	SQ245 A350 MH
SIN 09:55		BNE 19:30
Duration: 07:35
	SQ235 A350 MH
SIN 21:30		BNE 06:55*
Duration: 07:25

* Next day

Brisbane Singapore
From 16th June 2025

			Days
			M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	SQ256 A350 MH
BNE 09:20		SIN 15:25
Duration: 08:05
	SQ236 A350 MH
BNE 14:45		SIN 20:45
Duration: 08:00
	SQ266 A350 MH
BNE 18:10		SIN 00:10*
Duration: 08:00
	SQ246 A350 MH
BNE 23:50		SIN 05:45*
Duration: 07:55

* Next day

Seat capacity is up

This expansion will bring seat capacity on Singapore Airlines’ Brisbane route to 104% of pre-COVID levels, thanks to the deployment of the 303-seat Airbus A350 Medium Haul aircraft on all four daily flights.

Singapore Airlines Brisbane Seat Capacity (one-way, per week)
Cabin	Jul 2019	Jul 2025	Change
Business Class	1,134	1,120	1%
Premium Economy	168	–	100%
Economy	6,832	7,364	7%
Total Seats	8,134	8,484	4%

Prior to the pandemic, three of the four daily Brisbane flights were operated with the A350 Medium Haul, while one service used the lower-capacity 253-seat Airbus A350 Long Haul, hence the slight overall capacity increase.

Singapore is Brisbane’s second busiest international route, after Auckland, and according to Brisbane Airport CEO Gert-Jan de Graaff in 2024 “more than half of all visitors from India to Brisbane travelled via Singapore Airlines”.

Indians made up the largest number of non-Australian passport holders arriving into Brisbane on SIA flights last year, followed by Singaporeans and British citizens, highlighting the airline’s significant role in bringing international tourists to Queensland.

As we highlighted in our recent detailed analysis, Singapore Airlines has already practically restored flight frequencies and seat capacity to its Sydney, Melbourne and Perth routes too, as of late 2024.

Regional Business Class

The decision to operate all four daily Brisbane flights with Medium Haul aircraft going forward means that Queensland passengers will miss out on the carrier’s long-haul Business Class and Premium Economy cabins.

Instead it’s 40 of the the 2018 Regional Business Class seats that now feature exclusively on this route.

Prior to the pandemic, SIA was operating one of its daily Brisbane flights (SQ245/246) using Airbus A350 Long Haul aircraft, with 42 of the more spacious 2013 Business Class seats installed, plus a Premium Economy option.

Back in late 2018, Singapore Airlines was flying its A350 Long Haul with 2013 Business Class seats on three out of four Brisbane flights, while in mid 2018 all Brisbane flights got long-haul seats in this cabin (either 2013 J or the now-retired 2006 J).

While the 2018 Regional Business Class is the newest long-haul product currently operated by the airline, many find it narrow and less comfortable compared to the older seats.

Brisbane award redemption rates

These are the KrisFlyer miles needed for the Singapore – Brisbane route.

KrisFlyer Redemption (one-way) Singapore ⇄ Brisbane
	Saver	Advantage
Economy	30,500	55,000
Business	68,500	90,000

Taxes and fees of S$100 are payable in the Singapore – Brisbane direction on top of your KrisFlyer miles, with around S$94 payable in the Brisbane – Singapore direction.

This is higher than many routes to and from Singapore, because Australia charges both arrival and departure taxes for international passengers.

Singapore Airlines is restoring its its fourth daily Brisbane service from mid-June 2025, a welcome development for the carrier’s network, with full flight frequencies and capacity now restored to most cities in Australia following COVID-19 suspensions.

Unfortunately there is no return for long-haul aircraft to the route, with all four flights using the two-class Airbus A350 Medium Haul jets. That means the 2018 RJ seat in Business Class and no Premium Economy Class option for the carrier’s Queensland services going forward.

Nonetheless, the higher density of these regional aircraft means overall seat capacity on the Brisbane route will actually surpass pre-pandemic totals, with around 104% of previous seat volumes on offer.

(Cover Photo: Brian Bukowski)