The airlines fighting to take Australians on trips to Europe

Within this surge of capacity, another tension plays out: the battle of the hubs between Singapore – a longstanding favourite for Australians – and the newer options from the Persian Gulf, Emirates and Qatar Airways.

Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 at Sydney Airport.Credit: Wolter Peeters

“Singapore Airlines is a long-established carrier. In some ways, it’s the second international carrier out of Australia,” said Griffith University’s Institute of Tourism’s Justin Wastnage.

Just this week Singapore launched an aggressive early-bird discount on long-haul flights for 2026, pricing Sydney to Milan at $1669.

The numbers show that despite the volatility of recent years, Singapore Airlines’ presence in Australia is holding up.

After Qantas and Jetstar recording a market share of 16 per cent and 13.5 per cent, respectively, in June, Singapore Airlines had 9.3 per cent, more than the next closest, Emirates with 6.6 per cent, according to the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics.

Singapore Airlines last year flagged a $S1.1 billion ($1.29 billion) retrofit of its long haul and ultra-long range A350s. It is also reintroducing first class in seven of its A350-900 ultra-long-haul planes.

Singapore is not alone in the great fleet refresh: Emirates is upgrading 200 planes including its popular 116 strong fleet of A380s. From October, its A380s will fly from Perth and in December, Emirates will begin flying its Airbus A350-900 ultra-long-haul from Adelaide to Dubai.

Qatar Airways, which now has 70 weekly flights, has ordered 160 Boeing wide body jets with options for 50 more, the largest 787 Dreamliner order in Boeing’s history. It will take years for these planes to come online, but the investment has been staked out. This month it launched a special with flights to Europe from $1829.

Qantas, meanwhile, operates “the only” non-stop flights between Australia and London, Paris and Rome.

Holding its place in the competition: a business class seat of the Singapore Airlines Airbus A350-900.Credit: Bloomberg

“These popular services have some of the highest customer satisfaction scores on our international network,” the airline says. In 2027, Qantas will begin non-stop flights from Sydney to New York and London through its much-anticipated Project Sunrise. Meanwhile, it’s “almost doubling” Rome capacity.

As it faces down the competition from gulf carriers for Australia’s premium flyers, Singapore Airlines has relied on a blend of service-intensive flying, brand trust, customer familiarity, and geography as a launch point for Europe.

“Flying from Australia to Europe via the Middle East is often a more direct route, and the product offerings between Singapore Airlines and its two key competitors, Qatar Airways and Emirates, are fairly similar,” said Tabitha Yu Tian Foo of Singapore-based DBS International.

“However, Singapore Airlines stands out primarily for its superior service standards, the ease and comfort of transiting through Changi Airport, and the flexibility of multiple daily departures from major Australian cities.”

A spokeswoman for the airline said that customer service remained “the crucial differentiator” for Singapore Airlines. “We continue to place emphasis on the quality-of-service customers receive at all SIA touchpoints: pre-flight, on board, and post-flight.”

The airline’s cabin crew was awarded the world’s best by Skytrax in 2025 for a combination of techniques, efficiency, attention as well as enthusiasm, attitude and level of hospitality.

Business class pods at the Singapore SilverKris Lounge at Sydney airport.

Singapore Airlines refitted its SilverKris Lounge at Sydney Airport and opened another SilverKris lounge in Perth last year. Singapore Airlines has also committed to operate from the new Western Sydney International Airport.

Much to the joy of Australians, the top end of the long-haul market is already crowded with premium seat capacity.

From 2019, before the pandemic hit, to this year, Singapore Airlines has boosted its share of premium seats from 15.9 per cent to 19.2 per cent, according to Cirium data. Emirates stands at 24.3 per cent in 2025 with 2019 figures unavailable.

Not for a lack of trying, Qatar’s share was relatively flat at 11.7 per cent seats in premium in 2025 versus 11.3 per cent in 2019. Until its wet-lease deal and ownership stake with Virgin was approved, Qatar Airways had been repeatedly rebuffed by Australia’s regulators.

Qantas’ share of premium seating, meanwhile, declined over the same time to 14 per cent from 15.1 per cent.

Australia is benefiting from a change that occurred two decades ago when “the Emirati, both Dubai and then later Abu Dhabi, realised that their strategic position was well suited to ultra-long haul travel,” said Griffith University’s Wastnage.

Flying from Australia’s East Coast to the Middle East is around 14 to 15 hours, and once there, it’s only a six- to seven-hour hop to anywhere in Europe.

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“This is quicker than going via Singapore or via Malaysia or some of the traditional kinds of Kangaroo Routes,” said Wastnage.

No-fly zones over Russia and Iran and Ukraine imposed by authorities, or the airlines themselves, “actually make the traditional stopover in Singapore or Hong Kong less advantageous because airlines have to burn more fuel to fly around some of these trouble spots”, he said.

“This has really played into the hands of the Emiratis and Qataris who have very deep pockets, which means they can stand up routes with lower load factors than perhaps you might see in a comparable commercial setting,” said Wastnage.

The Middle East airlines also invested heavily early on an A380 which carries up to 800 passengers, said Wastnage. “That was really what changed some of the operating economics.”

Australia has a unique market as a nation with two major companies – Qantas Group and Virgin Australia – providing the bulk of domestic service, while more than 60 international airlines offer long-haul services. The rich variety of international players drives up the offerings for international flight.

All of which has presented a wave of competition for Singapore Airlines, which operates 120 weekly flights to and from Australia.

To date, Singapore-based founder and analyst at Endau Analytics Shukor Yusof says Singapore Airlines has been “quite effective in terms of value” in competing with Gulf carriers for Australian travels. “But of course, there are limits to the competition.”

Yusof says Singapore Airlines “hasn’t got unlimited cash resources unlike its rivals in the Gulf region”.

The Jewel is a mega-attraction at Singapore’s Changi Airport.Credit: WEI LENG TAY

That is, Singapore Airlines, which has in some ways served as a model for how an airline can function as a soft-power tool, must contend with Gulf carriers seemingly unlimited by money.

Yusof said: “As we have seen, the risk of instability in the Gulf has increased exponentially. That helps Singapore Airlines and therefore its strategy, while flexible, stays somewhat the same.” The continuity is seen as a selling point for the airline which has flown to Australia for almost 60 years.

“We do not shy away from the competitive operating landscape,” a Singapore Airline spokesperson said, who added the carrier will continue to “pursue innovation … to retain our leadership position.”

Hubs of competition

Ironically, the Gulf carriers – if not the gulf nations of the UAE and Qatar – have looked to the Singapore model of development for inspiration: not just of exploiting their geography to be a hub, but also how an airline can serve as a brand ambassador for a nation.

One traveller reader was unhappy with Qatar Airways’ lounge at Doha’s airport.

There was even a debate about which airport Qatar’s Hamad International or Singapore’s Changi came up with the concept of the forested area. Both airports routinely take top spot in the Skytrax airport of the year award.

There is a comparable level of service. In 2025, Skytrax ranked Qatar Airways the top carrier in the world, followed by Singapore Airlines, and then Cathay Pacific.

The longer-term effect of the Gulf carriers can be seen in travel patterns to Europe.

The fixed link between Sydney and London, for example, is, for now at least, fading. An analysis of BITRE numbers shows that from 2009 to 2024, Sydney-London recorded a 51.2 per cent decrease in total passenger numbers.

While inferring the final destination of the passengers is difficult, from 2009 to 2024 travellers from Sydney to Singapore rose 60.4 per cent.

Wastnage notes that Singapore was the first small country to really capitalise on its geographic position to woo stopover traffic. In addition to people transiting through the airport, the Singaporean government used to subsidise hotel stays. Dubai has embarked on a long-term campaign to raise its profile and become a destination for travellers in its own right.

Given both the geography and history, Singapore’s Changi is familiar for Australians. The airline’s growth has coincided with decades of peace.

The story in the Middle East is different.

Intangible differences

Earlier this month, Israel attacked the headquarters of Hamas’ political leadership in Qatar, prompting a fresh warning for Australian travellers by DFAT. Qatar Airways advised the public: “The recent unfortunate events in Doha have not impacted Qatar Airways operations and there have been no disruptions as a result. The safety and security of our passengers have been and will always be our top priority.”

It followed earlier military action in the troubled region. In June Iran launched a missile attack at a base which forced the diversion of hundreds of Qatar Airways flights, nearing its hub of Doha.

While Qatar Airways handled the crisis with great skill, aided by a state-of-the-art operations centre, it served as a reminder of the military activity that surrounds the Gulf region.

Singapore is poised to benefit from “fears that people are having around the Middle East”, said Wastnage.

Dr Abdul Rahman Yaacob is a Research Fellow in the South-East Asia Program at the Lowy Institute said flight delays related to security situations in the Gulf region will be a factor travellers will consider.

“One missile will shut down the airspace and there will be repercussions.”

Meanwhile, for Singapore “The region is very stable. Singapore has a good relationship with all its neighbours in Asia.”

Chris Zappone travelled as a guest of Singapore Airlines.