SINGAPORE - Singapore Airlines (SIA) is replacing its Canberra-Wellington flights with Melbourne-Wellington services and introducing a daily Sydney-Canberra connection as it restructures services between the Australian and New Zealand capitals.

The new Singapore-Melbourne-Wellington service will operate four times a week from May 3 this year as flight SQ247. The return routes will be operated as SQ248.

The flights will be operated with 266-seat Boeing 777-200s fitted with 38 Business Class seats and 228 Economy Class seats. They will replace SIA's existing Singapore-Canberra-Wellington services.

On May 1, 2018, SIA will also launch a new daily service between Canberra, Australia's capital city, and Sydney. These flights will be operated as SQ288 on a Singapore-Sydney-Canberra routing.

The Canberra-Sydney flights will be flown on 264-seat Boeing 777-300ER planes with four First Class seats, 48 Business Class seats, 28 Premium Economy Class and 184 Economy Class seats.

"We have seen growth in international travel into and from both Canberra and Wellington since the launch of our new services in 2016," SIA senior vice president of marketing and planning Tan Kai Ping said in a statement on Wednesday (Jan 24). "These new routings will allow us to serve Canberra and Wellington better, and provide Canberra with a step-up in frequency."

The new flights are still subject to regulatory approval.