Singapore Airlines to fly into Canberra: report

JC said :

Charlotte Harper said :

I haven’t received notice of any announcement yet, will let you know as soon as I do.

Press conference 11am Wed 20th. 4 flights a week as discussed above from August.

I’ve read September. 4 days a week I think is enough as well. I’d be happy if they offered even a twice or 3 times a week service. I’ll probably book a flight just to try it out. We did have that Fiji service during winter, which surprisingly didn’t do that well, but you’d think a seasonal service to Fiji would also work.

Good news about Singapore Airlines flights, hope this time it lasts.

Interesting to learn that Canberra Airport’s passenger numbers are down over the last few years.

Speculating on why. Perhaps fewer public servants? Cut backs in the PS budgets?

I’ve always wondered at the massive expansion of the Terminal in the face of apparently less passengers. it is mostly a ghost terminal, with echoing empty spaces.

Also at the clumsy entry around that strange expensive overpass bridge and the hidden bus access, a good walk around the corner from the terminal, thankfully approaching the bus drivers will drop you off closer but you still have to walk around to the out of sight stop to leve the terminal.

I may know how to get to the Terminal by public transport but most don’t.

Why would you not want easier access? The expensive shuttle bus to the city is equally as obscure and only runs limited hours so you are left with Taxis which can cost almost as much as the airfare. Not productive use of resources at all.

The ACT government has spent large sums of money trying to make the Airport more attractive to visitors but trips up at the last step of getting them from the Airport to Canberra. Really leaves you scratching your head. Is this Snow’s doing because he wants to milk the taxis for all they are worth?

I hope we get a low flyover from a big Airbus (after midnight).

Charlotte Harper said :

I haven’t received notice of any announcement yet, will let you know as soon as I do.

I heard on ABC 666 that an announcement will be made today.

Charlotte Harper said :

I haven’t received notice of any announcement yet, will let you know as soon as I do.

Press conference 11am Wed 20th. 4 flights a week as discussed above from August.

watto23 said :

dungfungus said :

How many of you are cancelling that trip to Turkey you had planned after the suicide bombing in Istanbul two days ago?

Nope because my life isn’t run by fear. The last thing I want to be is controlled by fear either by terrorists or worse, my own governments propaganda.
I’m off to Cuba and Peru this year. Need to get to Cuba before the USA invade with their fast food chains. Last year I did Jordan, Morocco and Bulgaria, all three wonderful places. Travel has opened my eyes to realise we are indeed the lucky country in many ways, but also could learn a lot from others.

Cuba is amazing and crazy – but don’t worry too much about the looming American influence. Mrs Kayem and I visited in November last year and there were heaps of tourists from Canada, Europe, Latin America and, yes, the United States. The locals are short of foreign exchange and there is a two speed currency for locals and blow ins – so it can be very expensive while also being very slow and inefficient. But it is great if you just roll with the punches. And I felt safe everywhere I went, at all times, in a group or alone.

What day this week is the announcement?

Nilrem said :

No_Nose said :

Nilrem said :

dungfungus said :

I am a car driver so I have no chance of being knocked down and I don’t go into Civic at all anymore so no chance of copping a “king hit” from anyone, least of all a drunk.
I will take a course on “tram-defensive driving” at the appropriate time.

So, you are NEVER a pedestrian?! I find that very hard to believe. How about when you get out of your car in the car park and walk to your destination?

And since when is it only pedestrians who are killed in traffic accidents?

I didn’t say that. I was merely taking issue with the statement to the effect of “I am a car driver so I will never be knocked down”.

I should have said “when I am driving a car I can’t get knocked down”
Hope that clears it up.

No_Nose said :

Nilrem said :

dungfungus said :

I am a car driver so I have no chance of being knocked down and I don’t go into Civic at all anymore so no chance of copping a “king hit” from anyone, least of all a drunk.
I will take a course on “tram-defensive driving” at the appropriate time.

So, you are NEVER a pedestrian?! I find that very hard to believe. How about when you get out of your car in the car park and walk to your destination?

And since when is it only pedestrians who are killed in traffic accidents?

I didn’t say that. I was merely taking issue with the statement to the effect of “I am a car driver so I will never be knocked down”.

rosscoact said :

rubaiyat said :

dungfungus said :

No_Nose said :

dungfungus said :

How many of you are cancelling that trip to Turkey you had planned after the suicide bombing in Istanbul two days ago?

Well I wasn’t planning Turkey for 2016, tossing up between Mongolia, India or Iran this year, with a possible short trip to Egypt, but we did think we might go back to Turkey and Bulgaria maybe in 2017. Its such a big country and there is so much of it we haven’t seen.

I certainly won’t be changing my plans due to the actions of a couple of psycho nut-jobs. Seriously you are at more risk of getting killed in a traffic accident in Australia than you are of being impacted by a terrorist attack in the vast majority of the world.

Did you make this post before or after the latest terrorist attack in Jakarta?
There was also a terrorist attack on a police station in regional Turkey yesterday, 6 killed by a truck bomb.
There appears to be “a couple of psycho nut-jobs” on every corner all over the world now.
This must make ISIS very angry because they have exactly the same agenda and what the “psycho nut-jobs” are doing in the name of ISIS is clearly a breach of their copyright.
Anyone Westerner who travels anywhere from now on should earn the title “thrill-seeker with a death wish”.

Why are you not concerned by the far FAR greater threat of being killed by a car?

Or being felled by a one punch drunken Aussie on “A you beaut night out”?

One has to leave home for either of those things to happen.

😀

Nilrem said :

dungfungus said :

I am a car driver so I have no chance of being knocked down and I don’t go into Civic at all anymore so no chance of copping a “king hit” from anyone, least of all a drunk.
I will take a course on “tram-defensive driving” at the appropriate time.

So, you are NEVER a pedestrian?! I find that very hard to believe. How about when you get out of your car in the car park and walk to your destination?

And since when is it only pedestrians who are killed in traffic accidents?

dungfungus said :

rubaiyat said :

dungfungus said :

No_Nose said :

dungfungus said :

How many of you are cancelling that trip to Turkey you had planned after the suicide bombing in Istanbul two days ago?

Well I wasn’t planning Turkey for 2016, tossing up between Mongolia, India or Iran this year, with a possible short trip to Egypt, but we did think we might go back to Turkey and Bulgaria maybe in 2017. Its such a big country and there is so much of it we haven’t seen.

I certainly won’t be changing my plans due to the actions of a couple of psycho nut-jobs. Seriously you are at more risk of getting killed in a traffic accident in Australia than you are of being impacted by a terrorist attack in the vast majority of the world.

Did you make this post before or after the latest terrorist attack in Jakarta?
There was also a terrorist attack on a police station in regional Turkey yesterday, 6 killed by a truck bomb.
There appears to be “a couple of psycho nut-jobs” on every corner all over the world now.
This must make ISIS very angry because they have exactly the same agenda and what the “psycho nut-jobs” are doing in the name of ISIS is clearly a breach of their copyright.
Anyone Westerner who travels anywhere from now on should earn the title “thrill-seeker with a death wish”.

Why are you not concerned by the far FAR greater threat of being killed by a car?

Or being felled by a one punch drunken Aussie on “A you beaut night out”?

I am a car driver so I have no chance of being knocked down and I don’t go into Civic at all anymore so no chance of copping a “king hit” from anyone, least of all a drunk.
I will take a course on “tram-defensive driving” at the appropriate time.

So, you are NEVER a pedestrian?! I find that very hard to believe. How about when you get out of your car in the car park and walk to your destination?

rubaiyat said :

dungfungus said :

No_Nose said :

dungfungus said :

How many of you are cancelling that trip to Turkey you had planned after the suicide bombing in Istanbul two days ago?

Well I wasn’t planning Turkey for 2016, tossing up between Mongolia, India or Iran this year, with a possible short trip to Egypt, but we did think we might go back to Turkey and Bulgaria maybe in 2017. Its such a big country and there is so much of it we haven’t seen.

I certainly won’t be changing my plans due to the actions of a couple of psycho nut-jobs. Seriously you are at more risk of getting killed in a traffic accident in Australia than you are of being impacted by a terrorist attack in the vast majority of the world.

Did you make this post before or after the latest terrorist attack in Jakarta?
There was also a terrorist attack on a police station in regional Turkey yesterday, 6 killed by a truck bomb.
There appears to be “a couple of psycho nut-jobs” on every corner all over the world now.
This must make ISIS very angry because they have exactly the same agenda and what the “psycho nut-jobs” are doing in the name of ISIS is clearly a breach of their copyright.
Anyone Westerner who travels anywhere from now on should earn the title “thrill-seeker with a death wish”.

Why are you not concerned by the far FAR greater threat of being killed by a car?

Or being felled by a one punch drunken Aussie on “A you beaut night out”?

I am a car driver so I have no chance of being knocked down and I don’t go into Civic at all anymore so no chance of copping a “king hit” from anyone, least of all a drunk.
I will take a course on “tram-defensive driving” at the appropriate time.

rubaiyat said :

dungfungus said :

No_Nose said :

dungfungus said :

How many of you are cancelling that trip to Turkey you had planned after the suicide bombing in Istanbul two days ago?

Well I wasn’t planning Turkey for 2016, tossing up between Mongolia, India or Iran this year, with a possible short trip to Egypt, but we did think we might go back to Turkey and Bulgaria maybe in 2017. Its such a big country and there is so much of it we haven’t seen.

I certainly won’t be changing my plans due to the actions of a couple of psycho nut-jobs. Seriously you are at more risk of getting killed in a traffic accident in Australia than you are of being impacted by a terrorist attack in the vast majority of the world.

Did you make this post before or after the latest terrorist attack in Jakarta?
There was also a terrorist attack on a police station in regional Turkey yesterday, 6 killed by a truck bomb.
There appears to be “a couple of psycho nut-jobs” on every corner all over the world now.
This must make ISIS very angry because they have exactly the same agenda and what the “psycho nut-jobs” are doing in the name of ISIS is clearly a breach of their copyright.
Anyone Westerner who travels anywhere from now on should earn the title “thrill-seeker with a death wish”.

Why are you not concerned by the far FAR greater threat of being killed by a car?

Or being felled by a one punch drunken Aussie on “A you beaut night out”?

One has to leave home for either of those things to happen.

dungfungus said :

No_Nose said :

kean van choc said :

Highly recommend Iran. You’ll spend much of your time speaking to highly educated people with a vision for an inclusive Iran. And you’ll experience some of the most gracious hospitality this world has to offer. The most dangerous part is crossing the road! Go now.

Yeah, my wife and I visited Iran about 15 years ago and have always wanted to go back. I have to agree, out of all the countries I have been to I would rate Iran as having the most friendly and welcoming people you could ever meet. I can’t count the number of times we were invited into peoples homes for meals or to parties or weddings. If you even looked lost, in 2 minutes there would be twenty people offering to walk you to wherever you needed to go.

There must be two places on earth called Iran:
http://www.iranhrdc.org/english/publications/reports/index.1.html?gclid=CjwKEAiAzuK0BRCW4tiLpJT-8TISJADV8cw9vQGFwPGS8ucigpZW2YlBSb5nFB1DDkOa3GwfNElXShoCX3fw_wcB

Sigh… Just the one. But like a number of countries, the Government and various other institutions in Iran promulgate policies and engage in activities that are abhorrent to a large number of its citizens.

I hope its a goer…. Frankly I dont see a plane load of Canberrans including those from rural surrounding areas filling a plane to NZ or Singers or anywhere for that matter being mustered on a regular basis….

dungfungus said :

No_Nose said :

dungfungus said :

How many of you are cancelling that trip to Turkey you had planned after the suicide bombing in Istanbul two days ago?

Well I wasn’t planning Turkey for 2016, tossing up between Mongolia, India or Iran this year, with a possible short trip to Egypt, but we did think we might go back to Turkey and Bulgaria maybe in 2017. Its such a big country and there is so much of it we haven’t seen.

I certainly won’t be changing my plans due to the actions of a couple of psycho nut-jobs. Seriously you are at more risk of getting killed in a traffic accident in Australia than you are of being impacted by a terrorist attack in the vast majority of the world.

Did you make this post before or after the latest terrorist attack in Jakarta?
There was also a terrorist attack on a police station in regional Turkey yesterday, 6 killed by a truck bomb.
There appears to be “a couple of psycho nut-jobs” on every corner all over the world now.
This must make ISIS very angry because they have exactly the same agenda and what the “psycho nut-jobs” are doing in the name of ISIS is clearly a breach of their copyright.
Anyone Westerner who travels anywhere from now on should earn the title “thrill-seeker with a death wish”.

Why are you not concerned by the far FAR greater threat of being killed by a car?

Or being felled by a one punch drunken Aussie on “A you beaut night out”?

No_Nose said :

dungfungus said :

Did you make this post before or after the latest terrorist attack in Jakarta?.

Actually I was watching ABC News 24 with live coverage from Jakarta as I typed. I’m not sure what the relevance is?

dungfungus said :

There was also a terrorist attack on a police station in regional Turkey yesterday, 6 killed by a truck bomb.

Yeah, I saw that. I believe it was in Cinar and the PKK are being blamed. It makes sense, it is certainly in a mainly Kurdish area. I travelled around that area about 20 years ago but it is probably a bit too close to the Syrian border for comfort at present.

dungfungus said :

There appears to be “a couple of psycho nut-jobs” on every corner all over the world now.

Exaggerate much?

If travel has taught me anything it is that 99% of people in the world are good decent helpful folk who just want to get on with their lives.

dungfungus said :

Anyone Westerner who travels anywhere from now on should earn the title “thrill-seeker with a death wish”

In the vast majority of the world you are in no more danger now than you were this time a year ago, a decade ago or 50 years ago. In fact you are probably safer because of the eradication, prevention or treatment of many diseases.

More of those pesky psycho nut jobs at it:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/toll-from-burkina-hotel-attack-hits-23/news-story/c4828f597aa1e31f455ab867bce529f2
Nothing to worry about – keep your tickets and reservations.

No_Nose said :

kean van choc said :

Highly recommend Iran. You’ll spend much of your time speaking to highly educated people with a vision for an inclusive Iran. And you’ll experience some of the most gracious hospitality this world has to offer. The most dangerous part is crossing the road! Go now.

Yeah, my wife and I visited Iran about 15 years ago and have always wanted to go back. I have to agree, out of all the countries I have been to I would rate Iran as having the most friendly and welcoming people you could ever meet. I can’t count the number of times we were invited into peoples homes for meals or to parties or weddings. If you even looked lost, in 2 minutes there would be twenty people offering to walk you to wherever you needed to go.

There must be two places on earth called Iran:
http://www.iranhrdc.org/english/publications/reports/index.1.html?gclid=CjwKEAiAzuK0BRCW4tiLpJT-8TISJADV8cw9vQGFwPGS8ucigpZW2YlBSb5nFB1DDkOa3GwfNElXShoCX3fw_wcB

No_Nose said :

kean van choc said :

Highly recommend Iran. You’ll spend much of your time speaking to highly educated people with a vision for an inclusive Iran. And you’ll experience some of the most gracious hospitality this world has to offer. The most dangerous part is crossing the road! Go now.

Yeah, my wife and I visited Iran about 15 years ago and have always wanted to go back. I have to agree, out of all the countries I have been to I would rate Iran as having the most friendly and welcoming people you could ever meet. I can’t count the number of times we were invited into peoples homes for meals or to parties or weddings. If you even looked lost, in 2 minutes there would be twenty people offering to walk you to wherever you needed to go.

An acquaintance of mine who spends time in Iran tells me it’s AMAZING and, interestingly, she called it “gay central”! There’s a huge tolerated subculture of creatives.

kean van choc said :

Highly recommend Iran. You’ll spend much of your time speaking to highly educated people with a vision for an inclusive Iran. And you’ll experience some of the most gracious hospitality this world has to offer. The most dangerous part is crossing the road! Go now.

Yeah, my wife and I visited Iran about 15 years ago and have always wanted to go back. I have to agree, out of all the countries I have been to I would rate Iran as having the most friendly and welcoming people you could ever meet. I can’t count the number of times we were invited into peoples homes for meals or to parties or weddings. If you even looked lost, in 2 minutes there would be twenty people offering to walk you to wherever you needed to go.

JC said :

You also forgot to say the reason the grass was painted because that same Liebral government thought it sensible to get grass sod from QLD, rather than local cool climate grasses. And you want a return to that shambolic government.

That “shambolic government” was decades ago now. Talk about living in the past to justify no change now.

In case u haven’t noticed, the shambolic decision making, fiscal management and priority setting by this ACT labor/Greens Gov’t since then, isn’t any better – if not, worse in part because they have been in power longer.

Using your analogy, why would anyone want to return to this shambolic ACT Labor/Greens Government at the 2016 ACT LA elections ? I say, give the alternative a go for 4 years and if it doesn’t work again, vote them out too – again.

Using issues from the last ACT Liberal Govt in the long lost past to imply justification to retaining the sort of incompetent decision making by the current ACT Labor/Greens Gov’t, doesn’t make sense.

If that were the yardstick – neither ACT Labor, Greens or Liberal would ever be elected again – which is probably a good thing, actually.

Really pleased about this. We have a dear friend who lives In Wellington, and another who lives in Singapore, so this is a really positive development for us.

No_Nose said :

dungfungus said :

How many of you are cancelling that trip to Turkey you had planned after the suicide bombing in Istanbul two days ago?

Well I wasn’t planning Turkey for 2016, tossing up between Mongolia, India or Iran this year, with a possible short trip to Egypt, but we did think we might go back to Turkey and Bulgaria maybe in 2017. Its such a big country and there is so much of it we haven’t seen.

I certainly won’t be changing my plans due to the actions of a couple of psycho nut-jobs. Seriously you are at more risk of getting killed in a traffic accident in Australia than you are of being impacted by a terrorist attack in the vast majority of the world.

Highly recommend Iran. You’ll spend much of your time speaking to highly educated people with a vision for an inclusive Iran. And you’ll experience some of the most gracious hospitality this world has to offer. The most dangerous part is crossing the road! Go now.

dungfungus said :

Did you make this post before or after the latest terrorist attack in Jakarta?.

Actually I was watching ABC News 24 with live coverage from Jakarta as I typed. I’m not sure what the relevance is?

dungfungus said :

There was also a terrorist attack on a police station in regional Turkey yesterday, 6 killed by a truck bomb.

Yeah, I saw that. I believe it was in Cinar and the PKK are being blamed. It makes sense, it is certainly in a mainly Kurdish area. I travelled around that area about 20 years ago but it is probably a bit too close to the Syrian border for comfort at present.

dungfungus said :

There appears to be “a couple of psycho nut-jobs” on every corner all over the world now.

Exaggerate much? If travel has taught me anything it is that 99% of people in the world are good decent helpful folk who just want to get on with their lives.

dungfungus said :

Anyone Westerner who travels anywhere from now on should earn the title “thrill-seeker with a death wish”

In the vast majority of the world you are in no more danger now than you were this time a year ago, a decade ago or 50 years ago. In fact you are probably safer because of the eradication, prevention or treatment of many diseases.

dungfungus said :

No_Nose said :

dungfungus said :

How many of you are cancelling that trip to Turkey you had planned after the suicide bombing in Istanbul two days ago?

Well I wasn’t planning Turkey for 2016, tossing up between Mongolia, India or Iran this year, with a possible short trip to Egypt, but we did think we might go back to Turkey and Bulgaria maybe in 2017. Its such a big country and there is so much of it we haven’t seen.

I certainly won’t be changing my plans due to the actions of a couple of psycho nut-jobs. Seriously you are at more risk of getting killed in a traffic accident in Australia than you are of being impacted by a terrorist attack in the vast majority of the world.

Did you make this post before or after the latest terrorist attack in Jakarta?
There was also a terrorist attack on a police station in regional Turkey yesterday, 6 killed by a truck bomb.
There appears to be “a couple of psycho nut-jobs” on every corner all over the world now.
This must make ISIS very angry because they have exactly the same agenda and what the “psycho nut-jobs” are doing in the name of ISIS is clearly a breach of their copyright.
Anyone Westerner who travels anywhere from now on should earn the title “thrill-seeker with a death wish”.

Funny thing is, statistically, you remain FAR more likely to be killed in a Canberra traffic accident than in a terrorist attack anywhere. Don’t overdose on bad news. 🙂

watto23 said :

dungfungus said :

How many of you are cancelling that trip to Turkey you had planned after the suicide bombing in Istanbul two days ago?

Nope because my life isn’t run by fear. The last thing I want to be is controlled by fear either by terrorists or worse, my own governments propaganda.
I’m off to Cuba and Peru this year. Need to get to Cuba before the USA invade with their fast food chains. Last year I did Jordan, Morocco and Bulgaria, all three wonderful places. Travel has opened my eyes to realise we are indeed the lucky country in many ways, but also could learn a lot from others.

So, if you get into strife you will ignore the fact that you can get help from the Australian government because it is all propaganda anyway?

dungfungus said :

How many of you are cancelling that trip to Turkey you had planned after the suicide bombing in Istanbul two days ago?

Nope because my life isn’t run by fear. The last thing I want to be is controlled by fear either by terrorists or worse, my own governments propaganda.
I’m off to Cuba and Peru this year. Need to get to Cuba before the USA invade with their fast food chains. Last year I did Jordan, Morocco and Bulgaria, all three wonderful places. Travel has opened my eyes to realise we are indeed the lucky country in many ways, but also could learn a lot from others.

drfelonious said :

This all about the Brumbies! Yeah..for sure, it all makes sense now!!!!

I expect to see Singapore Airlines announced as a Brumbies sponsor at the media conference.

http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/d9/d95c5edfd98bedf47b7bd6195172dec45fd97cf834f9622dfaa3751c6e2ec26e.jpg

Well, if the casino people don’t get those poker machines, the Brumbies will be looking for another sponsor.
I thought IKEA might be a contender even.
PS What was the picture about in the link you posted?

No_Nose said :

dungfungus said :

How many of you are cancelling that trip to Turkey you had planned after the suicide bombing in Istanbul two days ago?

Well I wasn’t planning Turkey for 2016, tossing up between Mongolia, India or Iran this year, with a possible short trip to Egypt, but we did think we might go back to Turkey and Bulgaria maybe in 2017. Its such a big country and there is so much of it we haven’t seen.

I certainly won’t be changing my plans due to the actions of a couple of psycho nut-jobs. Seriously you are at more risk of getting killed in a traffic accident in Australia than you are of being impacted by a terrorist attack in the vast majority of the world.

Did you make this post before or after the latest terrorist attack in Jakarta?
There was also a terrorist attack on a police station in regional Turkey yesterday, 6 killed by a truck bomb.
There appears to be “a couple of psycho nut-jobs” on every corner all over the world now.
This must make ISIS very angry because they have exactly the same agenda and what the “psycho nut-jobs” are doing in the name of ISIS is clearly a breach of their copyright.
Anyone Westerner who travels anywhere from now on should earn the title “thrill-seeker with a death wish”.

JC said :

dungfungus said :

Don’t forget we had an ACT Government paint dead grass green to benefit professional sport.

Interestingly the grass painting ACT Government was a Liebral one under Kate Carnell, and the sport she painted it for was Olympic Football (read soccer), which is limited to under 23’s with a couple older thrown in for good measure.

You also forgot to say the reason the grass was painted because that same Liebral government thought it sensible to get grass sod from QLD, rather than local cool climate grasses. And you want a return to that shambolic government.

No where have I suggested that we need to change back to that other government either. In fact, I have regularly stated that the ACT Liberals will be happy to lose this election as the mess they will inherit is now of a magnitude that only an administrator with draconian powers will be able to sort out.

dungfungus said :

Don’t forget we had an ACT Government paint dead grass green to benefit professional sport.

Interestingly the grass painting ACT Government was a Liebral one under Kate Carnell, and the sport she painted it for was Olympic Football (read soccer), which is limited to under 23’s with a couple older thrown in for good measure.

You also forgot to say the reason the grass was painted because that same Liebral government thought it sensible to get grass sod from QLD, rather than local cool climate grasses. And you want a return to that shambolic government.

This all about the Brumbies! Yeah..for sure, it all makes sense now!!!!

I expect to see Singapore Airlines announced as a Brumbies sponsor at the media conference.

http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/d9/d95c5edfd98bedf47b7bd6195172dec45fd97cf834f9622dfaa3751c6e2ec26e.jpg

dungfungus said :

How many of you are cancelling that trip to Turkey you had planned after the suicide bombing in Istanbul two days ago?

Well I wasn’t planning Turkey for 2016, tossing up between Mongolia, India or Iran this year, with a possible short trip to Egypt, but we did think we might go back to Turkey and Bulgaria maybe in 2017. Its such a big country and there is so much of it we haven’t seen.

I certainly won’t be changing my plans due to the actions of a couple of psycho nut-jobs. Seriously you are at more risk of getting killed in a traffic accident in Australia than you are of being impacted by a terrorist attack in the vast majority of the world.

dungfungus said :

I hope this deal is successful – it may depend more on Canberra & regional people leaving Canberra and returning rather than overseas tourists coming to Canberra and then returning overseas.
The timing is not good with a falling Australian dollar and the risk of terrorism emerging as deterrents to fly to Asia and beyond however Singapore is an excellent airport to transit through..
A lot will depend on the pricing being competitive with what is available through Sydney and Melbourne and how those airports may react.
Also, has Canberra Airport really got the human resources to process 300 international passengers arriving and departing at the same time? This requires customs and immigration inputs which are not required for existing domestic services.

How many of you are cancelling that trip to Turkey you had planned after the suicide bombing in Istanbul two days ago?

Ghettosmurf87 said :

dungfungus said :

When I first saw this announcement I thought there must be other benefits that could flow.
So I wasn’t surprised when I read in today’s CT about the competitive advantage that would flow to the Brumbies when they have to play in NZ. We all know how the ACT Government will move heaven and earth to support “our” professional sporting teams whenever they can.
Apparently the Brumbies don’t like transiting through Sydney when they have to play in NZ so a direct flight to NZ will save hours.
This may be good when they have to play in Wellington but that would depend on the scheduled flight matching the match day etc.
Also, the NZ teams that play in Canberra don’t fly here direct but they still seem to beat the Brumbies wherever the match is.

Yes, the ACT government has gone out of it’s way to ensure Singapore Airlines runs a CBR-Wellington flight just to benefit the Brumbies? We get it, you hate any government support of sporting organisations, but this couldn’t possibly be a case of a service being offered and someone realising that this could ALSO benefit the Brumbies, as opposed to the service being set up to deliberately help them?

For the record, in the 2015 season the Brumbies played 2 home games in Bruce against NZ sides. Beating the 4th placed Highlanders by 13pts and losing to the 7th placed Crusaders by 13pts. The Brumbies finished 6th. They lost both away games by 2pts, to the Chiefs and Blues.

Don’t forget we had an ACT Government paint dead grass green to benefit professional sport.
I don’t hate government support of sport in moderation but when it reaches the proportions of millions of dollars for professional teams it is time to take stock as to what benefit there is to Canberra.
I mean, that “Australia first” sponsorship of Lauren Jackson was a great idea, wasn’t it?
There are lots of other ways these professional teams are supported to (analyse the complexities of their sponsorships).
It’s time they became self-supporting, totally independent of government and cronies.

dungfungus said :

When I first saw this announcement I thought there must be other benefits that could flow.
So I wasn’t surprised when I read in today’s CT about the competitive advantage that would flow to the Brumbies when they have to play in NZ. We all know how the ACT Government will move heaven and earth to support “our” professional sporting teams whenever they can.
Apparently the Brumbies don’t like transiting through Sydney when they have to play in NZ so a direct flight to NZ will save hours.
This may be good when they have to play in Wellington but that would depend on the scheduled flight matching the match day etc.
Also, the NZ teams that play in Canberra don’t fly here direct but they still seem to beat the Brumbies wherever the match is.

Yes, the ACT government has gone out of it’s way to ensure Singapore Airlines runs a CBR-Wellington flight just to benefit the Brumbies? We get it, you hate any government support of sporting organisations, but this couldn’t possibly be a case of a service being offered and someone realising that this could ALSO benefit the Brumbies, as opposed to the service being set up to deliberately help them?

For the record, in the 2015 season the Brumbies played 2 home games in Bruce against NZ sides. Beating the 4th placed Highlanders by 13pts and losing to the 7th placed Crusaders by 13pts. The Brumbies finished 6th. They lost both away games by 2pts, to the Chiefs and Blues.

When I first saw this announcement I thought there must be other benefits that could flow.
So I wasn’t surprised when I read in today’s CT about the competitive advantage that would flow to the Brumbies when they have to play in NZ. We all know how the ACT Government will move heaven and earth to support “our” professional sporting teams whenever they can.
Apparently the Brumbies don’t like transiting through Sydney when they have to play in NZ so a direct flight to NZ will save hours.
This may be good when they have to play in Wellington but that would depend on the scheduled flight matching the match day etc.
Also, the NZ teams that play in Canberra don’t fly here direct but they still seem to beat the Brumbies wherever the match is.

It would certainly be nice. Take a Friday and a Monday off and fly up to Singapore for a long weekend. Could be good for Singapore tailors too. Get a rep here to do the measurements and have the garments delivered in a week or so.

Bring it on. For years we have been calling it Canberra “International Airport” with no international flights from here.

Other part is the trouble of travel to and accommodation in Sydney. I came to Sydney on new years eve night time and with kids with me I had no option other than to book accommodation for AUD 500. Such a hassle. Hope I wont see such trouble in the future . Fingers crossed for international flights from Canberra.

JC said :

dungfungus said :

Also, has Canberra Airport really got the human resources to process 300 international passengers arriving and departing at the same time? This requires customs and immigration inputs which are not required for existing domestic services.

Mr negativity, the answer is yes. Might surprise you but the Customs section of the now border force and AQIS already have a sizeable presence at Canberra airport already. They do customs and AQIS clearance on international removals, which as you can imagine in a capital city with lots of foreign embassies and Australian staff posting in/out is quite sizeable.

Just need to send them over to the terminal for a few hours for each flight. Probably only extra staff required would be a dedicated immigration specialist from border force, bearing in mind their ‘customs’ counterparts do the general clearances so maybe only 1 or 2 max. Shouldn’t be too hard to find them in Canberra.

Thanks for that JC.
You are the undisputed wellspring of local knowledge for RiotACT.

Maya123 said :

Kim F said :

I would think Canberra-Auckland would be a better option than Canberra-Wellington.

No, Canberra – Wellington please. I recently visited both cities and I far preferred Wellington to Auckland. It’s a much easier, more pleasant city to walk around as a tourist and far better than Auckland to pick up hire cars in, as the traffic in Auckland is AWFUL. I commented to some NZers that if – when 🙂 – I visited the north island again, if I didn’t have a strong reason to visit Auckland, I would fly in and out of Wellington. The NZers’ response was, “I would agree with that.”

Mostly agree. Auckland has an horrendous set of ring roads that really spoil the beautiful setting, and although the surrounding countryside has some good places to eat, inside Auckland’s CBD with a few exceptions (sushi being very good) the food is fairly ordinary.

Wellington is one hell of a party town and I love their food and entertainment scene.

dungfungus said :

Also, has Canberra Airport really got the human resources to process 300 international passengers arriving and departing at the same time? This requires customs and immigration inputs which are not required for existing domestic services.

Mr negativity, the answer is yes. Might surprise you but the Customs section of the now border force and AQIS already have a sizeable presence at Canberra airport already. They do customs and AQIS clearance on international removals, which as you can imagine in a capital city with lots of foreign embassies and Australian staff posting in/out is quite sizeable.

Just need to send them over to the terminal for a few hours for each flight. Probably only extra staff required would be a dedicated immigration specialist from border force, bearing in mind their ‘customs’ counterparts do the general clearances so maybe only 1 or 2 max. Shouldn’t be too hard to find them in Canberra.

Kim F said :

I would think Canberra-Auckland would be a better option than Canberra-Wellington.

The reason it is Wellington is SQ would appear to be linking two cities that would be marginal in their own rights from Singapore. So double up cities and kill three birds with one stone. SIN-CBR, SIN-WLG and CBR-WLG.

Guessing Singapore thinks there’s money in sing-cba and sing-wel. The cba-wel is incidental. Singapore already has a direct route to Auckland. Really hope these routes get off the ground…

Kim F said :

I would think Canberra-Auckland would be a better option than Canberra-Wellington.

well of course, but I’m sure they have a direct flight to Auckland cause its big enough. This flight would give people in Wellington a quicker one stop flight to Singapore over going via Auckland and combined the cities may make for a full flight. Plus its probably going to be scheduled to be convenient to government employees.

Kim F said :

I would think Canberra-Auckland would be a better option than Canberra-Wellington.

No, Canberra – Wellington please. I recently visited both cities and I far preferred Wellington to Auckland. It’s a much easier, more pleasant city to walk around as a tourist and far better than Auckland to pick up hire cars in, as the traffic in Auckland is AWFUL. I commented to some NZers that if – when 🙂 – I visited the north island again, if I didn’t have a strong reason to visit Auckland, I would fly in and out of Wellington. The NZers’ response was, “I would agree with that.”

More aircraft noise. A pox on them all.

Kim F said :

I would think Canberra-Auckland would be a better option than Canberra-Wellington.

I appreciate that Auckland is a much bigger city than Auckland, but maybe they are thinking of the capital-to-capital links – official travel?

I would think Canberra-Auckland would be a better option than Canberra-Wellington.

I hope this deal is successful – it may depend more on Canberra & regional people leaving Canberra and returning rather than overseas tourists coming to Canberra and then returning overseas.
The timing is not good with a falling Australian dollar and the risk of terrorism emerging as deterrents to fly to Asia and beyond however Singapore is an excellent airport to transit through..
A lot will depend on the pricing being competitive with what is available through Sydney and Melbourne and how those airports may react.
Also, has Canberra Airport really got the human resources to process 300 international passengers arriving and departing at the same time? This requires customs and immigration inputs which are not required for existing domestic services.