Singapore Airlines will introduce additional connections from its Changi hub in October.

Singapore Airlines is increasing its flights from Changi airport, with additional connections available for Australian passengers to Ahmedabad, Bangkok, Cape Town, Guangzhou, Istanbul, Mumbai, Osaka and Tokyo Haneda.

The new schedule comes into effect on October 30 this year, and will run through March 24, 2012.

Travellers to India get additional weekly flights: Ahmedabad moves up to three weekly from two, while Mumbai moves up to 17 from 14.

Bangkok moves up to five daily flights from four; Cape Town adds a weekly service, up to four from three; while Guangzhou's frequencies are doubled to twice daily under the new schedule.

Istanbul gets six flights a week, up from four. Three of the new flights will continue on to Athens, which will lose its direct service from Singapore.

Japanese flights are rebounding after the Tokyo earthquake earlier this year, with an additional weekly flight to Osaka (totalling 11) and a doubling of Tokyo flights to twice daily.

Virgin Australia's passengers will see easier connections to the additional flights if and when its planned Singapore Airlines alliance is confirmed by the ACCC regulator. The two airlines submitted their paperwork at the end of June.

Singapore Airlines and Virgin Australia are planning international and domestic connecting flight cooperation plus a link-up on pricing, scheduling, marketing and sales. For frequent flyers, Velocity and KrisFlyer members will enjoy shared lounge access and the ability to earn and burn points across both airlines.

The Australian focus is clear from SQ's perspective: the airline previously announced that its new A330s are headed to Australia and debuted its Airbus A380 with an all-business class upper deck on Sydney routes.