Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines (SIA) is the flag carrier airline of Singapore with its hub at Singapore Changi Airport. The airline is notable for using the Singapore Girl as its central figure in corporate branding. It has been ranked as the world's best airline by Skytrax four times and topped Travel & LeisureTemplate:'s best airline rankings for more than 20 years.

Singapore Airlines includes many airline-related subsidiaries. SIA Engineering Company handles maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) business across nine countries, with a portfolio of 27 joint ventures, including with Boeing and Rolls-Royce. Singapore Airlines Cargo operates SIA's freighter fleet and manages the cargo-hold capacity in SIA's passenger aircraft. It has two subsidiaries: SilkAir operates regional flights to secondary cities, while Scoot operates as a low-cost carrier.

Singapore Airlines was the launch customer for the Airbus A380 - the world's largest passenger aircraft - as well as the Boeing 787-10 and the ultra-long-range version of the Airbus A350-900. It ranks amongst the top 15 carriers worldwide in terms of revenue passenger kilometers, and is ranked tenth in the world for international passengers carried. Singapore Airlines was voted as the Skytrax World's Best Airline Cabin Crew 2019. The airline also won the second and fourth positions as the World's Best Airlines and World's Cleanest Airlines respectively for 2019.

History

Main article: History of Singapore Airlines

Corporate affairs

Main article: Corporate affairs of Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines is majority-owned by the Singapore government investment and holding company Temasek Holdings, which held 56% of voting stock as of 2012.

The Singapore government, which holds a golden share via the country's Ministry of Finance, has stressed its non-involvement in the management of the company, a point emphasised by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew when he said the Singapore Changi Airport's front-runner status as an aviation hub is more important than the SIA.

However, he was personally involved in defusing tensions between the company and its pilots in the early 2000s, warned the airline to cut costs, and made public his advice to the airline to divest from its subsidiary companies.

Singapore Airlines is headquartered at Airline House, an old hangar at the Changi Airport in Singapore.

Branding

Branding and publicity efforts have revolved primarily around flight crew, in contrast to most other airlines, who tend to emphasise aircraft and services in general. In particular, the promotion of its female flight attendants known as Singapore Girls has been widely successful and is a common feature in most of the airline's advertisements and publications.

The Singapore Airlines logo is a bird, inspired by a dagger featured in regional folklore known as a silver kris or keris. The kris is central in Singapore Airlines' branding, such as the SilverKris lounge and the KrisWorld entertainment system. The logo has remained unchanged since Singapore Airlines' inception from the split of Malaysia–Singapore Airlines, except for a minor tweak in 1987.

Destinations

Singapore Airlines flies to 137 destinations in 32 countries on five continents from its primary hub in Singapore.

After the Asian financial crisis in 1997, Singapore Airlines discontinued its routes to Kagoshima, Berlin, Darwin, Cairns, Hangzhou and Sendai. Toronto was discontinued in 1994. During the SARS outbreak in 2003–04, Singapore Airlines ceased flights to Brussels, Las Vegas, Chicago, Hiroshima, Kaohsiung, Mauritius, Vienna, Madrid, Shenzhen and Surabaya. Singapore Airlines discontinued flights to Vancouver and Amritsar in 2009, and São Paulo in 2016.

Singapore Airlines operated two of the longest flights in the world, both nonstop flights from Singapore to Los Angeles and Newark with Airbus A340-500 aircraft. All A340-500s were phased out in 2013 and nonstop flights to both destinations were terminated. Nonstop service to Los Angeles was terminated on 20 October 2013 (the airline continues to serve Los Angeles from Singapore via Tokyo-Narita), and the nonstop service to Newark was terminated on 23 November 2013 in favour of a Singapore-New York JFK route via Frankfurt.

From 23 October 2016, Singapore Airlines resumed non-stop flights from Singapore to the United States, beginning with San Francisco. The route is flown by the A350-900 aircraft and includes Business, Premium Economy, and Economy classes. This was followed by the resumption of non-stop flights to Newark and Los Angeles from 11 October 2018 and 2 November 2018, respectively, with the delivery of the Airbus A350-900ULRs, allowing the airline to operate two of the world's longest non-stop flights again.

Singapore Airlines also operated flights between Singapore and Wellington via Canberra until May 2018, when the intermediate stop was changed to Melbourne. This route was known as the Capital Express.

The airline has a key role on the Kangaroo Route. It flew 11.0% of all international traffic into and out of Australia in the month ended March 2008. Six destinations apiece are served in India and Australia, more than anywhere else.

Singapore Airlines has taken advantage of liberal bilateral aviation agreements between Singapore and Thailand, and with the United Arab Emirates, to offer more onward connections from Bangkok and Dubai, respectively.

AirAsia, a low-cost airline based in Malaysia, accused Singapore Airlines of double standards, when it claimed that the Government of Singapore attempted to keep it out of the Singapore market, although there has been no official word that Singapore Airlines has objected to the entry of AirAsia. Singapore Airlines has, instead, welcomed the opening of the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur route which it dominated together with Malaysia Airlines for over three decades, accounting for about 85% of the over 200 flight frequencies then operated. A highly lucrative route for LCCs due to its short distance and heavy traffic as the fourth-busiest in Asia, bringing Singapore Airline's capacity share on the route down to about 46.7%, Malaysia Airlines' down to 25.3%, and increase to 17.3% to the three LCCs now permitted on the route, and the remainder shared by three other airlines as of 22 September 2008. Singapore Airlines' capacity share dropped further from 1 December 2008 when the route was completely opened, as Singapore Airlines announced plans to share its capacity with sister airline SilkAir. Malaysia Airlines, the main opponent to liberalisation of the route and deemed to be the party which stands to lose the most, will continue to codeshare with both Singapore Airlines and SilkAir on the route. On 14 October 2015, Singapore Airlines announced plans to resume the world's longest non-stop flight between Singapore and Newark – a 15,300 km (9,500 mi), 19-hour route that the airline had dropped in 2013. According to the airline, the route would operated following the acquisition of new Airbus A350-900ULR aircraft in 2018. A340-500 aircraft were formerly employed to serve this route until their retirement in 2013.

Codeshare agreements

Singapore Airlines codeshares with the following airlines: Template:Div col

Aegean Airlines
Air Canada
Air China
Air France
Air India
Air Mauritius
Air New Zealand
Air Timor
Alaska Airlines
All Nippon Airways
Asiana Airlines
Avianca
Brussels Airlines
Croatia Airlines
EgyptAir
Eurowings
Ethiopian Airlines
EVA Air
Fiji Airways
Garuda Indonesia
JetBlue
LOT Polish Airlines
Lufthansa
Malaysia Airlines
Royal Brunei Airlines
S7 Airlines
Scandinavian Airlines
Scoot
Shenzhen Airlines
SilkAir
South African Airways
SriLankan Airlines
Swiss International Air Lines
TAP Air Portugal
Turkish Airlines
United Airlines
Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Australia
Vistara

Services

Cabins

Singapore Airlines offers five classes of service – suites, first class, business class, premium economy class, and economy class. Major upgrades to its cabin and in-flight service were announced on 17 October 2006, constituting the first major overhaul in over eight years and costing the airline approximately S$570 million. Initially planned for the Airbus A380-800's introduction into service in 2006, and subsequently on the Boeing 777-300ER, the postponement of the first A380-800 delivery meant it had to be introduced with the launch of the first Boeing 777-300ER with the airline on 5 December 2006 between Singapore and Paris.

On 9 July 2013, Singapore Airlines, in collaboration with two design firms, James Park Associates and DesignworksUSA, unveiled the next generation of cabin products for First, Business, and Economy class, which will enter service onboard new Boeing 777-300ERs and Airbus A350s. London was the first city served with the new product in September 2013. The product was later extended to all Boeing 777-300ERs.

On 2 November 2017, Singapore Airlines unveiled new cabin products for Suites, Business, Premium Economy and Economy Class, exclusive to the airline's Airbus A380-800 aircraft. These new changes are expected to cost roughly S$1.16 billion and have been rolled out in response to growing competition from Middle Eastern carriers such as Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways. The seating configuration in the new design consists of 6 Suites and 78 Business Class seats on the upper deck, with 44 Premium Economy Class seats and 343 Economy Class seats on the lower deck. The new changes are being rolled out on the five new Airbus A380 aircraft that are yet to be delivered to Singapore Airlines, while the existing A380 fleet will have these new products retrofitted from now until 2020. Sydney was the first city served with the new product on 18 December 2017.

Singapore Airlines Suites

Singapore Airlines Suites is a class available only on the Airbus A380-800. The old product, introduced in October 2007, was designed by French luxury yacht interior designer Jean-Jacques Coste and consists of separate compartments with walls and doors 1.5 m high. The leather seat, upholstered by Poltrona Frau of Italy, is Template:Convert wide (with armrests up and Template:Convert wide when armrests are down) and a Template:Convert LCD TV screen is mounted on the front wall. The Template:Convert bed is separate from the seat and folds out from the back wall, with several other components of the suite lowering to accommodate the mattress. Windows are built into the doors and blinds offer privacy. Suites located in the centre (Rows 2 and 3 only) can form a double bed after the privacy blinds between them are retracted into special compartments between the beds and in the frame of the partition. There are 12 seats at the front of the lower deck of the Airbus A380-800 aircraft, with the first and last rows in a 1-1 configuration, and the second and third rows in a 1-2-1 configuration. Unveiled on 2 November 2017, the "New A380 Suites" are being progressively rolled out on the Airbus A380-800 fleet. They consist of six suites, manufactured by Zodiac Aerospace as separate compartments with walls and sliding doors in a 1-1 configuration on the forward upper deck. The suite itself consists of a free-standing seat and a separately deployable 76-inch (193 cm) flatbed, as well as a 32-inch (81 cm) touchscreen LCD TV, mounted on the side wall. The leather seat, also upholstered by Poltrona Frau of Italy, is able to recline 45 degrees and rotate 360 degrees. The first two suites on either side of the aircraft can form a double bed after the privacy divider is lowered, similar to the old Suites product. Additional features include a separate wireless touchscreen control tablet located upon the credenza for controlling lighting, window blinds and service calls, a Lalique personal amenity kit, an inbuilt personal closet and bag storage area, and a power socket and USB port all in a single panel.

First class

Introduced on 9 July 2013, the "New" First Class is offered on refitted Boeing 777-300ERs. Features include a 24-inch in-flight entertainment screen with video-touch screen handsets, arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration, adjustable in-seat lighting, and passenger control unit, inside a fixed-shell cabin with an Template:Convert wide seat, foldable into an Template:Convert bed.

The "Other" First Class is offered only on Boeing 777-300 aircraft. Designed by James Park Associates, it features a Template:Convert-wide seat upholstered with leather and mahogany and a Template:Convert LCD screen. The seats fold out into a flat bed and are also arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration.

Business class

Business Class was known as Raffles Class until 2006. The latest version of the Business Class, the "New" Business Class, was unveiled on 9 July 2013 and is available on refitted Boeing B777-300ERs and the Airbus A350-900. Features include power socket and ports all in one panel, stowage beside the seat, two new seating positions, arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration and an 18-inch in-flight entertainment screen. The seat has a recline of 132 degrees and can be folded into a Template:Convert length bed.

Long Haul Business Class is available on Airbus A380 and refitted Boeing 777-200ER aircraft, where a fully flat bed is available in a 1-2-1 configuration featuring Template:Convert of seat width. These seats are forward-facing, in contrast to the herring-bone configuration used by several other airlines offering flat beds in business class. The leather seats feature a Template:Convert diagonal screen-size personal television, in-seat power supply and two USB ports. The product was voted the world's best business class by Skytrax in 2011.

On eight Airbus A380 aircraft, the first of which entered service in October 2011, Singapore Airlines dedicated the entire upper deck to the Business class cabin, unlike the original configuration's upper deck shared by 16 rows of business class and 11 rows of economy at the rear.

Medium and Short Haul Business Class is available on all Airbus A330-300, Boeing 777-300 and all unrefitted Boeing 777-200 aircraft, configured in 2-2-2 layout and with iPod connectivity, only available in the A330. The Business Class seat is lie-flat at an eight-degree incline, featuring Krisworld on a 15.4 inch screen.

On 28 March 2018, the new regional Business Class was unveiled following the delivery of the first Boeing 787-10. These new seats manufactured by Stelia Aerospace are arranged in a forward-facing 1-2-1 staggered configuration, providing every passenger direct aisle access. Each seat measures up to Template:Convert in width and can be reclined into a Template:Convert fully-flat bed. There are also adjustable dividers at the centre seats to provide passengers with a "customised level of privacy".

Unveiled on 2 November 2017, the "New A380 Business class" seats are being progressively rolled out on the Airbus A380-800 fleet. There are 78 Business class seats on the aircraft, offered in a 1-2-1 configuration behind the Singapore Airlines Suites on the upper deck. The seats, designed by JPA Design and upholstered with Poltrona Frau grain leather, can be reclined into a fully-flat bed. There are also adjustable dividers between the centre seats that can either be fully raised, half raised or fully lowered. The pair of centre seats directly behind each bulkhead, when the centre divider is fully lowered, can form double beds. There is also an 18-inch (46 cm) touchscreen LCD TV and a panel containing a power and USB port, as well as an NFC Reader for contactless payments.

Premium Economy class

On 9 August 2015, Singapore Airlines introduced an all-new premium economy class, with the seats manufactured by Zim Flugsitz, to be installed on its Airbus A380, B777-300ER and Airbus A350-900 aircraft. The product was first flown from Singapore to Sydney, Hong Kong and Auckland and has been rolled out to other routes. Premium Economy seats have a 38-inch pitch (compared to a 32-inch pitch in standard economy), at 18.5-19.5 inches wide with an 8-inch recline. They also feature a 13.3-inch high-definition touchscreen LCD monitor and a Book-the-Cook Service.

Economy class

The latest redesign of the economy class seat was unveiled on 9 July 2013 alongside new first and business class products. Features include 32 inches of legroom, slimmer seats, an adjustable headrest, and an 11.1-inch touch-screen inflight entertainment system which is also controllable with a video touch-screen handset as well as brand new KrisWorld software. The new seats were originally announced to only be available exclusively onboard factory-fresh Airbus A350-900 and refitted Boeing 777-300ER.

The previous generation economy class seats unrefitted Airbus A380-800, and Airbus A330-300 are Template:Convert wide, have in-seat power and have a 10.6-inch personal television screen which has a non-intrusive reading light under it, which can be used by folding the screen outwards. These are configured 3-4-3 on the lower deck of the Airbus A380, 3-3-3 on the Boeing 777, and 2-4-2 on the Airbus A330, as well as the upper deck of the Airbus A380. Other features include an independent cup-holder (separate from the fold-out table), a USB port, and a power socket, as well as an iPod port exclusively on board the Airbus A330.

Singapore Airlines introduced a similar design on board the Boeing 777 aircraft through its ongoing cabin retrofit program. The Boeing 777-300 was the first model to undergo refit and had introduced the product on the Singapore–Sydney route on 22 July 2009. They are equipped with slightly smaller 9-inch screens (which are, however, larger than the 6.1-inch VGA screens on unrefitted aircraft) and AVOD in each seat. The seats are installed onboard all B777-200ERs and all but one B777-200.

Older economy class seats are only available on Boeing 777-200. They have VGA 6.1-inch personal television screens with AVOD, footrests, adjustable headrests with side-flap "ears" and adjustable seat reclines. Baby bassinets are available on most bulkheads. These older Economy Class seats with the Wisemen 3000 system were introduced with the Boeing 777-200ER in 1997, for use alongside the existing Economy Class seats with the non-AVOD KrisWorld (at that time on board the airline's Boeing 747-400s and A340-300s, having been introduced in 1995) and the older-generation early 1990s seats without KrisWorld (at that time on board the airline's A310-200s and A310-300s). The first few aircraft were delivered without AVOD, as of 2015, there are no more aircraft without AVOD.

Catering

Singapore Airlines offers a wide array of food options on each flight. Regional dishes are often served on their respective flights, such as the Kyo-Kaiseki, Shi Quan Shi Mei, and Shahi Thali meals are available for first-class passengers on flights to Japan, China and India, respectively.

SIA has also introduced a Popular Local Fare culinary programme offering local favourites to passengers in all classes flying from selected destinations. The dishes featured in this programme included Singaporean hawker fare such as Teochew porridge, bak chor mee, Hainanese chicken rice, Satay (meat skewers), etc. are also featured on certain routes.

They published a cookbook in 2010 titled, Above & Beyond: A Collection of Recipes from the Singapore Airlines Culinary Panel.

Passengers in Suites, First and Business class may choose to use the "Book the Cook" service, where specific dishes may be selected in advance from a more extensive menu. Premium Economy class passengers may also choose to use the "Premium Economy Book the Cook". This service is only available on selected flights.

In-flight entertainment

KrisWorld is Singapore Airlines' in-flight entertainment system, introduced in 1997 on Boeing 747-400, Airbus A310-300, Airbus A340-300 and Boeing 777-200 aircraft. KrisFlyer overhauled Singapore Airlines' in-flight experience with a new, cheaper entertainment solution that would supersede the primitive Thales entertainment systems on offer at that time by Virgin Atlantic and the Emirates Google Doodle for its fifth anniversary.

The original KrisWorld introduced 14 movies, 36 television programmes, and 5 cartoons, as well as many Super Nintendo games, KrisFone and fax, text news and flight path in all classes. The original KrisWorld was subsequently upgraded to feature Wisemen 3000, an audio and video-on-demand version of the KrisWorld system featured exclusively in First and Raffles Class cabins, then progressively introduced into Economy Class in 747 cabins and selected 777 cabins.

In 2002, Singapore Airlines introduced a re-branding of the KrisWorld system. Named Enhanced KrisWorld, it featured additional movies, television programming, music and games, and was installed on Boeing 747-400 and selected Boeing 777-200 aircraft. Connexion by Boeing, an in-flight Internet service, was introduced in 2005. Live television streaming was proposed on Connexion, but this service was discontinued in December 2006. Since October 2005, Singapore Airlines has offered complimentary language lessons by Berlitz. and, starting December 2005, live text-news feeds.

In 2007, a new KrisWorld based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux was introduced, featuring a new interface, additional programming and audio and video on demand as standard. Widescreen personal video systems were installed in all cabins, including 23-inch LCD monitors in First Class, 15-inch monitors in Business Class, and 10.6-inch monitors in Economy Class. The new KrisWorld is available on Airbus A330, Airbus A380 and Boeing 777-300ER. Features include, A $400 million new KrisWorld entertainment system was unveiled in 2012. This comes from a major deal with Panasonic Avionics, which will provide the latest Panasonic eX3 systems. The eX3 system features a larger screen with much higher resolution, wide touch-screen controllers, new software, and, above all, in-flight connectivity. Singapore Airlines launched its in-flight connectivity in August 2012. Passengers are now able to make phone calls, send text messages and access the Internet for a fee. The new eX3 systems are unveiled alongside the new cabin product, and are available on the Airbus A350-900 and refitted B777-300ER aircraft. In-flight connectivity is offered on the aforementioned two aircraft as well as select Airbus A380s.

Frequent flyer programme

KrisFlyer is the frequent flyer programme for the Singapore Airlines Group portfolio of airlines, comprising Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and Scoot. Besides the airlines in the Singapore Airlines Group, KrisFlyer members can earn miles when flying with any Star Alliance airline, Star Alliance Connecting Partner, Alaska Airlines, JetBlue, Olympic Air, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia and Vistara. Miles can also be earned with over 200 partners in the air and on the ground.

KrisFlyer miles can be redeemed for flights and upgrades when flying with the Singapore Airlines Group and selected partner airlines, as well as converting them to points with selected partner loyalty programmes. Miles can also be mixed with cash to pay for award tickets and flight upgrades on the Singapore Airlines website, as well as purchases made from KrisShop.

KrisFlyer is divided into the following tiers:

KrisFlyer – The basic level at which one starts earning miles,
KrisFlyer Elite Silver – The airline's rendition of Star Alliance's Silver tier of passengers,
KrisFlyer Elite Gold – The airline's rendition of Star Alliance's Gold tier of passengers,
Priority Passenger Service (PPS) Club – Provides Star Alliance Gold privileges on Singapore Airlines, Star Alliance members and partner airlines, as well as further privileges on Singapore Airlines.
Solitaire PPS Club - The top tier. Additional privileges on top of those accorded to PPS Club members.

Incidents and accidents

26 March 1991 – Singapore Airlines Flight 117, an Airbus A310-300, was hijacked by militants en route from Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport to Singapore Changi International Airport, where it was stormed by the Singapore Special Operations Force. All hijackers were killed in the operation, with no fatalities amongst the passengers and crew.
31 October 2000 – Singapore Airlines Flight 006, a Boeing 747-400, attempted to take off on the wrong runway at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (previously Chiang Kai-shek International Airport) while departing for Los Angeles International Airport. It collided with the construction equipment that was parked on a closed runway, killing 83 of the 179 onboard and injuring a further 71 people. This was the first and only fatal accident of a Singapore Airlines aircraft to date. The aircraft 9V-SPK was painted in a "Tropical" promotional livery at the time of the accident. The only other aircraft painted with the promotional livery, another 747-400 registered 9V-SPL, was immediately removed from service and repainted with standard Singapore Airlines livery.
12 March 2003 - A Boeing 747-400 operating as Singapore Airlines Flight 286 from Auckland International Airport to Changi Airport was involved in a tailstrike while taking off from Auckland's Runway 23L, causing severe damage to the aircraft's tail and damaging the APU (Auxiliary Power Unit), causing in-flight APU fire warnings. The flight returned to Auckland with no fatalities or injuries on board. The cause was later determined to be an error in the pilots' calculations of the aircraft's takeoff weight and reference speeds, which caused the pilots to rotate the aircraft prematurely.
27 June 2016 – Singapore Airlines Flight 368, a Boeing 777-300ER, with 222 passengers and 19 crew on board, suffered an engine oil-leak during a flight from Singapore to Milan. The oil-leak alarm was sounded above Malaysia, two hours into the flight. During the emergency landing at the point of origin, Singapore Changi Airport, the right engine caught fire, leading to the right wing being engulfed in flames. The fire was extinguished within five minutes after the plane landed. No injuries were reported.