Singapore Airlines has launched its new ‘Capital Express’ service, linking Singapore for the first time with the capital cities of both Australia and New Zealand.

The inaugural flight, SQ291, departed Singapore Changi Airport at 23:00 last night and arrived at Canberra Airport at 08:15 local time this morning.

Following a short stop-over at Canberra, it continued on to Wellington and arrived shortly after 15:00.

The ‘Capital Express’ service will operate four times per week on a Singapore-Canberra-Wellington routing, with return services operating on a Wellington-Canberra-Singapore routing.

Singapore Airlines is the first airline to operate regularly scheduled international services to and from Canberra.

It is also the first airline with flights between Canberra and Wellington.

Flights will be operated with 266-seat Boeing 777-200 aircraft fitted with 38 Business Class seats and 228 Economy Class seats.

The new Canberra services will add to Singapore Airlines’ already extensive Australia network, which includes flights between Singapore and Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

Regional arm SilkAir also serves Cairns and Darwin, while low-cost subsidiary Scoot serves the Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

The new Wellington services will complement existing services between Singapore and both Auckland and Christchurch.

Singapore Airlines’ network in Australia and New Zealand is further enhanced through its extensive partnerships with Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand.