Unleash Singapore Air on the Pacific

The addition of Singapore capacity will add to Australian jobs. More staff will be needed at Sydney and Melbourne airports to check-in passengers, handle baggage and freight, cater, clean and re-fuel the aircraft, and perform the relevant engineering checks, repairs and maintenance.

More back-office staff will also be needed. And to really support their case, Singapore should commit to using Australian-based cabin and technical crews.

Another drawback that would need to be considered is that any profit from the route would flow back to the owners of Singapore Airlines. But then again, Australian airlines are not 100 per cent Australian-owned either, with Qantas' foreign ownership level at about 39.1 per cent.

Rights to the US

The last obstacle that Singapore airlines would need to clear is the right to land in the US from an Australian port. Singapore would therefore need to plead its case not just to the Australian Government but also the US Government.

Given the number of cashed-up Australian tourists that they are likely to bring into the US economy, the business case at the moment would seem to be favourable at first glance.

Tony Webber was Qantas Group chief economist between 2004 and 2011. He is now managing director of Webber Quantitative Consulting and Associate Professor at the University of Sydney Business School, and contributed this article to BusinessDay.