Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines Limited (Abbreviated:
SIA; ; abbreviated 新航) is the
national airline of
Singapore, with a strong presence in
Southeast Asia,
East Asia,
South Asia, and a major player on the competitive
Kangaroo route between
Europe and
Oceania. It also operates significant
Transpacific services, including two of the world's longest
non-stop commercial flights to
Los Angeles and
Newark respectively.
Singapore Airlines has built up a strong
brand name in the aviation industry since its formation in 1972, and has a reputation for being a trend-setter and industrial benchmark in service quality. One of the world's most
awarded airlines, it is one of only four airlines to receive a 'five-star' rating by
Skytrax. An industry bellwether for aircraft purchases, it has a reputation for being a very demanding and meticulous buyer, with its purchases closely monitored by plane makers as an endorsement of their aircraft, and by other airlines for potentially reliable and cost-effective purchases.
It is the leading and founding entity of the
Singapore Airlines Group of companies. Operational members of the Group, such as its regional and wholly-owned subsidiary,
Silkair, manage flights to secondary cities with smaller capacity requirements, particularly those in
Southeast Asia,
China and
India. Since 2001, air freight operations have also been hired off to a separate subsidiary,
Singapore Airlines Cargo, which took over the entire freighter fleet from SIA, as well as management of the cargo holds in passenger-cargo aircraft. A more recent addition was the
low-cost carrier
Tiger Airways, which marked the group's entry into the low-cost segment of the aviation industry.
Collectively, Singapore Airlines Group is the world's second largest carrier by market capitalisation, second only to
Southwest Airlines of the
United States. In addition, Singapore Airlines ranks amongst the top 15 airline carriers worldwide in terms of
revenue passenger kilometres according to
Air Transport World.
Early history
Singapore Airlines began with the incorporation of Malayan Airways Limited (MAL) on October 12, 1937, by the Ocean Steamship Company of Liverpool, the Straits Steamship Company of Singapore and Imperial Airways(
BOAC/
BA). The airline's first flight was between
Kuala Lumpur and the
British Straits Settlement of
Singapore on
2 April 1947 using an
Airspeed Consul twin-engined airplane.
MAL continued to grow during the rest of the 1940s and 1950s, as other British
Commonwealth airlines (such as
BOAC/
BA,
Qantas) provided technical assistance, as well as assistance in joining the
IATA. By 1955, Malayan Airlines' fleet had grown to include a large number of Douglas
DC-3s, and went in 1957.
When
Malaya,
Singapore,
Sabah and
Sarawak federated in 1963 to form the
Federation of Malaysia, the airline name was similarly changed, from "Malayan Airways" to "Malaysian Airlines" (though still abbreviated to MAS). MAS also took over Borneo Airways although
Brunei remained a British colony until 1984.
In 1966, following Singapore's independence from the Federation, the airline's name was changed again, to
Malaysia-Singapore Airlines (MSA). The next year saw a rapid expansion in the airline's fleet and route, including the purchase of MSA's first
Boeing 707s, as well the completion of a new high-rise headquarters in Singapore.
MSA ceased operations in 1972, when political disagreements between Singapore and Malaysia resulted in the formation of two new airlines: Singapore Airlines and
Malaysia Airlines. Singapore Airlines kept all 10 of MSA's
Boeing 737s and
707s, and retained the international routes out of Singapore as well as the corporate headquarters in Singapore. Air hostesses continued to wear the
sarong kebaya dress, which had previously been used by MSA.
Singapore Airlines actively cultivates and promotes the image of the 'Singapore Girl' in its advertising, and aggressively recruits young women who fit the image, though they do not have to be Singaporean.
Modern history
|
Singapore Airlines timetable from 1978, showing the Concorde on the cover, which was operated briefly in cooperation with British Airways. |
|
Singapore Airlines is the launch customer for the upcoming Airbus A380. |
Singapore Airlines saw rapid growth during the 1970s, adding many cities in the
Indian subcontinent and Asia to its 22-city network, and adding
Boeing 747s to its fleet. The 1980s saw the addition of the
United States,
Canada, and many European cities to the airline's route map, with
Madrid becoming the first and only
Hispanic city to be served by Singapore Airlines. Services were extended to Africa in the 1990s, when the airline began flights to
Johannesburg in
South Africa. The network would eventually be expanded to include the cities of
Cape Town and
Durban.
During the 1990s, Singapore Airlines licenced
model aeroplane companies like
Schabak,
Wooster,
Herpa Wings and many others, to manufacture promotional plane models for them. Their Boeing 747s became known as
Megatop, and were complemented by
Boeing 777s and various
Airbus aircraft.
In 2004, Singapore Airlines began long-haul flights from
Singapore to
Los Angeles International Airport in
California and
Newark Liberty International Airport in
Newark, New Jersey. This marked the first ever non-stop air service between
Singapore and the
United States of America, using Airbus
A340-500 aircraft named "Leadership". The Singapore to Newark flight currently holds the record as the longest commercial flight in the history of aviation, with a flying time of approximately 18 hours between Singapore and Newark and 20 hours on the way back.
In 2005, the airline unveiled the slogan "First to fly the A380 - experience the difference in 2006", to promote itself as the world's first airline to take delivery of the
A380-800 double-decker super jumbo, then expected to take place in the 2nd quarter of 2006. In early 2006, the first A380 was painted in full Singapore Airlines livery for an appearance at the
Asian Aerospace Show 2006. However Airbus admitted in late 2005 that, due to unforeseen technical problems, it would delay delivery of the aircraft by up to six months, with the first delivery in Nov 2006 after the peak northern hemisphere summer travel season.[
1]
The announcement was met with fury by SIA's
CEO, Chew Choon Seng, who threatened to sue Airbus. He further claimed that SIA will be receiving the
Boeing 777-300ER before the A380. Nevertheless, SIA has indicated that this would not affect its promotional campaign [
2]. The first few aircraft will be used on the Singapore to London, and Singapore to Sydney routes. On
14 June 2006, Singapore Airlines placed an initial order for the
Boeing 787 as part of its future aircraft expansion. [
3] The order consisted of 20 787-9s and rights for 20 more. This order comes just one day after Airbus announced that the A380 superjumbo would be delayed by another 6 months. [
4] Chief Executive Chew Choon Seng of Singapore Airlines has shown interest in the
Boeing 747-8 which will be a larger and more efficient version of the current
Boeing 747-400.
On
20 April 2006, the media broke news on the airline's possible investment of up to 20% in
China Eastern Airlines. SIA confirmed that negotiations were underway when approched by the media [
5] [
6].
*On
26 March 1991,
Flight 117, on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore, was hijacked in mid-flight by four Pakistanis who demanded that the plane be flown to Sydney. The crisis ended at Singapore Changi Airport, where all four were killed by members of the
Singapore Special Operations Force. 2 of the 123 passengers and crew suffered injuries.
*On
31 October 2000,
Singapore Airlines Flight 006, a
Boeing 747-400 flying on a Singapore to
Los Angeles via
Taipei route rammed into construction equipment while attempting to take off from a closed runway at
Chiang Kai Shek International Airport, and was destroyed by both the collision and post-impact fires, killing 79 passengers and 3 crew members. The accident prompted the airline to change the flight number of this route from 006 to 030 and to remove the "Tropical Megatop" livery on the accident aircraft's sister ship.
*On
19 April,
2005, a Singapore Airlines
Boeing 777-200ER stopped 194 meters (640 feet) beyond a painted stop line at
Bangkok International Airport. Its left wing-tip was clipped by a
Thai Airways International Airbus A330-300 taxiing for take-off.
*On
25 June 2006 , a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-200ER flight SQ229 to
Adelaide Airport had its passengers and crew quarantined after yellow powder was found on some of the passengers' bags. The powder was later found to be harmless.
Despite the presence of the above mentioned incidents, the airline was Asia's first and the world's third airline to be accredited by IATA with the IOSA (IATA Operations Safety Audit).
Early on, Singapore Airlines became the first airline to offer free headsets and drinks. Its service quality has made it the world's most awarded airline to date.
In 2005, it was one of the earliest to introduce high-speed, in-flight internet service in March by installing the
Connexion by Boeing system, and became the first airline in the world to offer live international television broadcasts using the same system from June [
7]. In the same month, one can take up free language lessons using
Berlitz Word Traveler's interactive language learning programme, with 11 languages offered, and subsequently increased to 22 by November [
8]. In December 2005, the airline offered free live news feeds it called "Live Text News" via its KrisWorld entertainment system [
9].
Singapore Airlines is a member of the
Star Alliance, which it joined in April 2000. Since
30 March 2000, it has owned a 49% stake in
Virgin Atlantic Airways. The airline owns a similar 49% stake in
Tiger Airways, a
low-cost carrier flying from
Singapore which it founded in September 2004 with Indigo Partners LLC, the investment firm founded by
Bill Franke, (24%); Irelandia Investments Limited, the private investment arm of
Tony Ryan and his family, (16%); and
Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd (11%).
Silkair is a wholly-owned subsidiary serving new destinations in Asia and regional connections using Singapore as a hub.
Singapore Airlines purchased 25% of
Air New Zealand in 2000. However following the near collapse of
Air New Zealand the
New Zealand government bought into the airline to rescue it from bankruptcy, reducing SIA's stake to 4.5%. This was subsequently sold in October 2004.
The Singapore Airlines Group has over 50 subsidiaries and associates, including:
*
International Engine Component Overhaul (IECO) (43.3%)
*
SIA Engineering Company (SIAEC) (86.6%)
*
Singapore Aero Engine Services Private Limited (SAESL) (43.3%)
*
Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise (SALE) (35.5%)
*
Singapore Airlines Cargo (100%)
*
Singapore Airport Terminal Services (86.5%)
*
Singapore Flying College (100%)
Code sharing
The airline has
codeshare agreements with the following airlines to the following destinations:
*
Air Canada (Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver)
*
Air New Zealand (Auckland, Christchurch, Rotorua, Wellington, New Plymouth, Dunedin, Queenstown, Palmerston and Sydney)
*
All Nippon Airways (Tokyo)
*
Asiana (Seoul)
*
Austrian Airlines (Vienna)
*
LOT Polish Airlines (Warsaw)
*
Lufthansa Airlines (Frankfurt, Munich, Hannover, Bremen, Hamburg, Dresden, Dusseldorf, Leipzig, Stuttgart, Cologne, Nuremberg, Berlin, Friedrichshfn, Munster, Paderborn, Geneva, Brussels, Vienna, Prague, Nice, Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Helsinki, Oslo, Malaga, Barcelona, Bilbao, and Madrid)
*
Malaysia Airlines (Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and Penang)
*
Royal Brunei Airlines (Bandar Seri Begawan)
*
Silkair (Phuket, Yangon, Chang Mai, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Medan, Manado, Trivandrum, Da Nang, Kuching, Kochi, Surabaya, Kota Kinabalu, Kunming, Xiamen, Chengdu, Chongqing, Shengzhen, Palembang, Solo City, Balikpapan and Langkawi)
*
Virgin Atlantic Airways (Washington, Boston, Miami and Orlando)
Flight numbers
Generally, flight numbers are allocated according to geographical regions:
* SQ001-SQ049:
North America-bound destinations
* SQ050-SQ199:
Southeast Asia-bound destinations
* SQ200-SQ299:
Oceania-bound destinations
* SQ300-SQ399:
Europe-bound destinations
* SQ400-SQ499:
South Asia(up to 28 October 2006),
Southwest Asia and
Africa-bound destinations
* SQ500-SQ599:
South Asia-bound destinations (from 29 October 2006)
* SQ600-SQ699: Supplementary flights,
Japan and
Korea-bound destinations (from 29 October 2006)
* SQ700-SQ799: Unutilised
* SQ800-SQ999:
Greater China,
Japan(up to 28 October 2006) and
Korea(up to 28 October 2006)-bound destinations
* SQ1000-SQ1099:
North America codeshares via
Air Canada* SQ2000-SQ2299:
Europe codeshares via
Lufthansa Airlines* SQ2500-SQ2699:
Europe codeshares via
Virgin Atlantic Airways* SQ2700-SQ2799:
Europe codeshares via
Austrian Airlines* SQ2900-SQ2999:
Europe codeshares via
bmi, now inoperative
* SQ3000-SQ3999:
Singapore Airlines Cargo flights
* SQ5000-SQ5399:
Southeast Asia codeshares via
Silkair* SQ5400-SQ5499:
Southeast Asia codeshares via
Royal Brunei Airlines* SQ5600-SQ5699:
Southeast Asia codeshares via
Malaysia Airlines* SQ5700-SQ5799:
East Asia codeshares via
Asiana Airlines* SQ5900-SQ5999:
East Asia codeshares via
All Nippon Airways* SQ6000-SQ6199:
Oceania codeshares via
Ansett Australia, now defunct
* SQ6700-SQ6999:
Oceania codeshares via
Air New Zealand* SQ7000-SQ7999:
Singapore Airlines Cargo flights
* SQ8000-SQ8999: Charter flights
Singapore Airlines operates one of the youngest fleets in Asia. Its fleet features aircraft from just 3 aircraft families: the
Boeing 747, the
Boeing 777, and the
Airbus A340.
The airline has a history of naming its fleet according to plane makes. The
Boeing 747-400s are dubbed "Megatop", while the
Boeing 777s are called "Jubilee". The
Airbus A340-500s were named "Leadership", but that has since been dropped. Names for airliners previously flown by the airline includes "Superbus" for the 8
Airbus A300, "3TEN" for the 23
Airbus A310-300, "Celestar" for the 17
Airbus A340-300,"Super B" for the 23
Boeing 747-200B, "Big Top" for the 14
Boeing 747-300.
Singapore Airlines flew, for a short period of time, a
Concorde that it shared with
British Airways. The plane had Singapore Airlines' livery on one side, and British Airways' logo on the other.
It is the launch customer for the Airbus A380-800, and will be the first airline in the world to operate it when it comes into service before Christmas 2006. It has 19 of these aircraft on order and options on a further 6 aircraft. It plans to introduce it on its Kangaroo route services from Sydney to London via its base at Changi Airport (ref: Airliner World, March 2005), though, after a new 6 month delay that was announced by Airbus seems to have put off the entry into service date to 2007. [
10]
On 14 June 2006, Singapore Airlines announced it has signed a
LOI Letter of Intent to order 20
Boeing 787-9s. Delivery of the aircraft is scheduled from early 2011 to mid-2013. It is also taking purchase rights for an additional 20
Boeing 787 aircraft.
On 21 July 2006, Singapore Airlines announced at the Farnborough Airshow that it had signed a letter of intent to order 20
Airbus A350 with options for another 20 and 9 more
Airbus A380 with options for another 6. It will also lease 19 A330-300s off Airbus. [
11].
Current fleet by aircraft size(as of June,
2006)
The average age of the fleet of Singapore Airlines is 6.1 years as of April 2006.
Notes
*Singapore Airlines operates the world's longest nonstop flight (SQ21 and 22). It uses an
A340-500 that flies from Singapore's
Changi International Airport to New Jersey's
Newark Liberty International Airport. The aircraft, which have a special seat configuration on 181 passengers, have its own 'Executive Economy class' and Raffles Class. When flying from Singapore to New Jersey, the plane flies via the North Pole, and it crosses the
Arctic Ocean. The approximate length of this route is 8506mi or 13694km.
*All of Singapore Airlines' 777-212s are the Extended Range (ER) models; featuring centre fuel tanks for maximum storage. The airline however chooses to only refer to the 9V-SV* registered series of aircraft as 777-200ERs as those planes are certified to 656,000 lb (298,000 kg)
Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW) and fly the longer intercontinental routes. The 9V-SR* and 9V-SQ* registered aircraft feature derated engines which can be electronically reprogrammed to produce more thrust and thus operate longer flights at higher MTOWs if ever needed.
*6 of the
Boeing 747-400s were withdrawn from regular operation since the
SARS crisis in the year 2003. Another 2 will be withdrawn later, and all 8 will be sold to two airlines from the year 2006 to 2008, after being converted into freighters. There is a possibility they may be transferred to
Singapore Airlines Cargo, as an addition to its existing 14 B747-412Fs (dubbed "MegaArk"s).
*In August 2004, the airline decided to order 18
Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, and the order was signed on 23 December 2004, during which an unused option for
Boeing 777 family was converted into an additional order for
Boeing 777-300ER.
*Its
Airbus A340 aircraft are equipped with special cupboards big enough to take a corpse in case any passengers die en route. This has since been taken off after an SQ pilot took a photo of it and posted it on the internet. The pilot was later said to have been fired from the company [
12]
*British Airways, for a short period of time, flew a
Concorde (registered ) that had Singapore Airlines' livery on one side, and British Airways' logo on the other. The aircraft was operated by BA pilots, and staffed with flight attendants from both airlines, flying between Singapore and London via Bahrain.
*Singapore Airlines is currently the largest Boeing 777 operator in the world with 58 in service, 6 more than the next largest operator and
Star Alliance partner,
United Airlines. The airline has 32 more on order or on options.
*Singapore Airlines has an in-flight entertainment system, KrisWorld, which screens the latest movies and includes Nintendo games. Each seat has it own personal television.Krisworld has recently been upgraded in all classes to feature On-demand video and audio, where each user can select any particular film or television programme from the considerably large inflight library at any time, and can pause, rewind and fast forward through it from their in seat video controller and personal screen. (Previously all airline inflight entertainment was limited to either a single large screen playing a film for the entire cabin, or users given a selection of channels that would all start and end simultaneously, usually soon after take off, with no control given to the user).
*Singapore Airlines is known in the industry as being the first to launch new in-flight entertainment features, such as Nintendo or movies on demand. Their primary in-flight entertainment supplier is
Panasonic Avionics Corporation*Their First Class Skysuites have 14-inch televisions and Business class (Raffles Class) seats are called Spacebeds with 180° recline.
*Starting in 2005, Singapore Airlines will begin integrating wireless broadband for all classes on selected flights. As of August 2005, this facility is only available on flights to London and New York.
|
In Singapore, the airline also operates a local tourist bus service, the SIA Hop-On. |
*In 2005, the airline increased codeshare flights to
New Zealand with
Air New Zealand, and increased the frequency of flights to destinations in
India and
Australia.
*On
1 June 2005, flights to
Beijing were increased to 3 times daily. The airline also added flights to
Mumbai, increasing them to twice daily.
*
Egypt Air announced codesharing with Singapore Airlines on SIA's thrice weekly
Cairo-
Dubai-
Singapore-
Sydney route.
*Attempts to fly the trans-Pacific route between
Sydney and
Los Angeles were put on hold indefinitely after the Australian government said that it needed more time to make a decision.
*Starting
1 September, Singapore Airlines will launch six-times weekly
Bangkokâ€"
Tokyo flights.
*CEO
Chew Choon Seng was reportedly "furious" with
Airbus over its delays in delivering the
A380 airliner and was said to be considering a suit for damages. He told a German weekly Focus On Saturday in an interview that the A380 would not be delivered until November 2006. He said that the aging
Boeing 747-400s would have to be kept flying longer and that the delays had "greatly upset our forecasts with regard to capacity", additionally causing disruptions in training flight crew and engineers. A clause in the sales contract allows SIA to seek damages for late delivery. The company will now focus on delivery of 19
Boeing 777-300ER since the 777 will be delivered earlier than the Airbus aircraft. SIA is in talks with Airbus for compensation over the delays of delivering the A380. The airline's Vice-President for Public Affairs said that this was the best option, yet would not rule out a lawsuit against Airbus. SIA is not giving any details but earlier reports have said that it was seeking more than US$6 million in compensation. One of the issues that SIA will face is how to handle higher passenger loads during the affected period. The airline may have to extend the lease of its 747s until the arrival of the A380.
*On
August 152005,
Virgin Atlantic, which flies the Kangaroo route between
Australia and the
United Kingdom via
Hong Kong, denied it was in talks with part owner Singapore Airlines about extending its code sharing arrangements from
Singapore to
Sydney.
Virgin Atlantic, 49% owned by Singapore Airlines, began flying between Sydney and the United Kingdom via Hong Kong in December. The London-Heathrow to Hong Kong route is generally doing well but not the Hong Kong-Sydney sector, loads are expected to increase on the Sydney-Hong Kong-London sector once Virgin Atlantic adds a 3x weekly service between London-Hong Kong starting November 1st 2006 increasing to daily in February 2007.
*On
November 24 2005, Singapore Airlines decided to return to
Pakistan after a three year hiatus. The airline discontinued flying to Pakistan due to "security problems" in Karachi. The airline withdrew service from Pakistan on the
10 May 2002. However after a recent visit by the
Prime Minister of Pakistan Shukat Aziz to Singapore, the airline decided to reopen the route with a three times weekly service to
Karachi and
Lahore. Flights are expected to begin on
February 1 2006. Mr Huang Cheng Eng, Singapore Airlines' Executive Vice President of Marketing and Regions said Singapore Airlines is confident that flights to Karachi and Lahore will facilitate the growth of trade, investments and tourism between Singapore and Pakistan. In addition, we believe that the inclusion of Pakistan to its extensive route network further enhances Pakistan's linkage to the rest of the world.
* At a Cabinet meeting on
February 22,
2006, the Australian government decided not to grant
fifth freedom rights to Singapore Airlines on flights from
Australia to the
United States. Singapore Airlines had argued that transpacific flights from Australia suffered from under-capacity, leading to limited competition and relatively high air fares.
* On
14 June 2006, Singapore Airlines placed an initial order for the
Boeing 787 as part of its future aircraft expansion. [
13] The order consisted of 20 787-9s and rights for 20 more. This order comes just one day after Airbus announced that the A380 superjumbo would be delayed by another 6 months.
* On
21 July 2006, Singapore Airlines signed an order of intent to buy 29 new
Airbus planes, 20 A350s and 9 A380s. [
14]
*
Singapore Airlines*
Silk Air*
KrisFlyer - Singapore Airline's frequent flyer program (FFP)*
Boeing May Find Buyers for Bigger 747 Passenger Plane in 2006
