Air NZ's Singapore sling is a '$60m gift' to rival

Air New Zealand's decision to stop flying to Singapore is handing rival Singapore Airlines $60 million "on a silver platter", media reports there say.

Singapore's Business Times has reported that the Air NZ pull-out will provide SIA with extra income of between $40 million and $60 million.

A change in focus from south Asia to north Asia means Air NZ will stop flying to Singapore in October. It said, when announcing the changes last month, that most passengers flying through Singapore were connecting with another service, so were equally well-served from Hong Kong.

Chief executive Rob Fyfe said that as a final destination, Singapore was a very small market.

However, the Business Times, quoting several industry sources, said SIA would be left with a lucrative monopoly on the route.

"Air NZ has virtually handed them another $60 million on a silver platter," a Singapore-based industry player said.

However, a New Zealand source said competition would still be intense in the region and SIA was unlikely to make gains of that size.

He said Air NZ was not likely to just let the passengers that had been on their Singapore flights simply transfer to the SIA service. "I would expect they will be working hard to try and get those passengers flying through Hong Kong."