Singapore Airlines is boosting services to London Gatwick and sending the A380 double-decker to Melbourne in moves it says will give Kiwi flyers more flexibility.

And the airline said it was extending the cancellation of Dubai services after “an assessment of the geopolitical situation in the Middle East“.

The Iran-Israel-US conflict has disrupted travel in and out of some Middle East hubs.

It has also generated more interest from Antipodeans seeking alternative routes to Europe.

Singapore Airlines today said it would introduce additional services between Singapore and Gatwick from March 31.

Services SQ314 and SQ313 will be more frequent to meet higher demand.

“This will be a three-times weekly service from March 31 to July 2, going up to daily from July 3 to August 29, before reverting to three-times weekly from September 1 to October 24.”

The airline already flew to Heathrow four times a day and it said the Gatwick services would complement those.

“This will bring Singapore Airlines’ total London services to up to six flights per day, strengthening connectivity to one of the most in-demand long-haul destinations for New Zealand travellers.”

Gatwick is about 45km south of central London and is England’s second-busiest airport.

With a raft of Dubai and Qatar services disrupted because of war, the major alternative routes from New Zealand to Europe are through Southeast Asia or North America.

Singapore Airlines said it would deploy its flagship Airbus A380 on the Singapore–Melbourne route between March and October.

That would increase capacity on a key connection point for Kiwis travelling via Australia, the airline said.

The quadjet is the world’s biggest commercial passenger aircraft and only full-length double-deck jetliner.

It is likely familiar to some New Zealanders as a member of the Emirates fleet.

Emirates is by far the world’s biggest A380 operator.

On Singapore-Gatwick flights, Singapore Airlines will operate its Airbus A350-900 long-haul, a widebody twinjet.

It has 42 business class seats, 24 in premium economy, and 187 in economy class.

And Singapore Airlines said it would extend cancellation of services SQ494 and SQ495 between Singapore and Dubai until April 30.

The airline said it apologised to all affected customers for the inconvenience caused.

“Customers affected by the flight cancellations will be reaccommodated on alternative flights where possible, or they may seek a full refund of the unused portion of their ticket.”

It said it decided to extend cancellations to the United Arab Emirates hub after assessing the geopolitical situation.

United Airlines chief executive Scott Kirby earlier this month said demand was surging from people wanting an alternative route to Europe.

“Each day this week, we have booked over 1000 people from Australia and New Zealand to Europe. Last year, we booked less than one a day,” Kirby said in comments CNBC reported.

Meanwhile, the UAE said its air defences responded to Iranian aerial attacks on Sunday.

Agence France-Presse said the Emirates on Saturday joined 21 other countries in agreeing to help efforts to secure the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf.

The grouping of mostly European countries, but also including Bahrain, condemned Iranian attacks on unarmed commercial vessels in the Gulf and “attacks on civilian infrastructure including oil and gas installations”.