History of Singapore Airlines

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Singapore Airlines, based at Singapore Changi Airport, is the flag carrier of the Republic of Singapore. Ranking amongst the top 15 air carriers worldwide in terms of the scale of revenue-passengers-kilometres,[1] and 10th in the world for the volume of international passengers carried,[2] Singapore Airlines is one of the largest airline businesses in Asia.

Origin[]

An Airspeed Consul (VR-SCD) – the first aircraft type operated by Malayan Airways, which was the forerunner of Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines began with the incorporation of Malayan Airways Limited (MAL) on 1 May 1947, by the Ocean Steamship Company of Liverpool, the Straits Steamship Company of Singapore and Imperial Airways. The airline's first flight was a chartered flight from the British Straits Settlement of Singapore to Kuala Lumpur on 2 April 1947 using an Airspeed Consul twin-engined aircraft.[3] Regular weekly scheduled flights quickly followed from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Penang from 1 May 1947 with the same aircraft type.[4] The airline continued to expand during the rest of the 1940s and 1950s, as other British Commonwealth airlines (such as BOAC and Qantas Empire Airways) provided technical assistance, as well as assistance in joining IATA.[citation needed] By 1955, Malayan Airways' fleet had grown to include a large number of Douglas DC-3s, and went public in 1957. Other aircraft operated in the first two decades included the Douglas DC-4 Skymaster, the Vickers Viscount, the Lockheed 1049 Super Constellation, the Bristol Britannia, the de Havilland Comet 4 and the Fokker F27.

When Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak formed the Federation of Malaysia in 1963, the airline's name was changed, from "Malayan Airways" to "Malaysian Airways". MAL also took over Borneo Airways. In 1966, following Singapore's separation 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 aircraft, the Boeing 707s, as well the completion of a new high-rise headquarters in Singapore. Boeing 737s were added to the fleet soon after.

Incorporation and growth[]

An MSA Boeing 707 at Zürich-Kloten Airport. (1972)

MSA ceased operations in 1972, when Singapore wanted to develop its international routes but Malaysia wanted to develop its domestic routes before moving on to international routes, resulting in the formation of Singapore Airlines and Malaysian Airlines System.[5][6][7] Hence, Singapore Airlines kept all of MSA's Boeing 707s and 737s, retained the international routes out of Singapore as well as the existing corporate headquarters in the city, with J.Y. Pillay, former joint chief of MSA as its first chairperson. Female flight attendants continued to wear the sarong kebaya uniform, which had been first introduced in 1968. A local start-up advertising company, Batey Ads was given the right to market the airline, eventually selecting the sarong and kebaya-clad air stewardesses as an icon for the airline and calling them Singapore Girls.

SIA DC-10-30 at Zurich in 1979.

SIA expanded almost overnight after the split from MSA in 1972, adding cities in the Indian subcontinent and Asia, and adding Boeing 727s, Boeing 747s and Douglas DC-10s to its fleet. The 1st two 747s arrived in the summer of 1973 and were deployed on the lucrative Singapore-Hong Kong-Taipei-Tokyo (Haneda Airport) run. As additional 747-200s arrived they were placed on routes to London, Paris and Rome, Australia and the long cherished USA with service to Los Angeles. The DC-10s lasted only a couple of years in the SIA fleet. In 1977, Singapore Airlines took delivery of its first Boeing 727-200 Advanced, flying it on its inaugural service from Singapore to Manila. The B727 was Singapore Airlines' successor to the B737-100s that it had inherited from MSA.

Concorde in Singapore Airlines livery at Heathrow in 1979.

In December 1977, British Airways and Singapore Airlines shared a Concorde for flights between London and Singapore International Airport at Paya Lebar via Bahrain. The aircraft, BA's Concorde G-BOAD, was painted in Singapore Airlines livery on the port side and British Airways livery on the starboard side.[8][9] The service was discontinued after 4 days and three return flights because of noise complaints from the Malaysian government;[10] it was reinstated on a new route by passing Malaysian airspace. Then, India too cited problems with the boom and did not allow Concorde from reaching supersonic speeds in Indian airspace. Determined to make the route a success, British Airways and Singapore Airlines resumed flights on 24th January 1979, this time avoiding Malaysian airspace as well as Indian's. However, the service discontinued for good on 1st November 1980. The two carriers cited decreasing traffic as one of the reasons, with the route estimated to be costing them around £2m a year.[11][12][13]

Revenue Passenger-Miles/Kilometers, in millions
Year Traffic
1972 1413 RPMs
1973 2944 RPKs
1975 5104 RPKs
1979 12041 RPKs
1985 21676 RPKs
1990 31270 RPKs
1995 48400 RPKs
2000 70795 RPKs
Source: Air Transport World
A Singapore Airlines Airbus A300 seen at the Farnborough Airshow in 1980.

The 1980s saw expanded services to United States, Canada, and additional European cities with Madrid becoming the first Hispanic city to be served by SIA. Boeing 747-300s were leased and introduced into the SIA fleet in the early 1980s and named 'Big Tops'. The 747-300s replaced the 747-200s on all trans-pacific routes as well as the prime European destinations. Again a short-term affair was begun with a few Boeing 757s later followed by the addition of Airbus A310s and Airbus A300s The A310s became the Asian regional workhorse of the fleet, with the small A310-200 fleet serving until the late 1990s, and the much larger A310-300 fleet serving into the 2000s. In 1989, the first of 50 B747-400s was added to the fleet. The Airbus A340-300s augmented the 747-400s on long-range routes to Spain, Zurich, Copenhagen, San Francisco and cities not suitable for 747 service. Services extended to southern Africa in the 1990s when the airline began flights to Johannesburg in South Africa; Cape Town and Durban were later added. The 1990s also saw the opening of Terminal 2 in Changi Airport in 1991; all flight operations later moved to the new terminal. Police raided SIA's offices in Germany for offering tickets that were priced at such a low level they were allegedly illegal. The airline called a press conference condemning the police, which led to the raid being stopped.[14]

In 2003 SIA obtained 5 long range Airbus A340-500 aircraft and started the two longest nonstop flights in aviation history, Singapore – Newark and Singapore – Los Angeles. In winter 2007 SIA saw its first double decker Airbus A380-800 join the fleet. Today Singapore Airlines is the world's 2nd largest operator of the type after Emirates of the UAE. SIA employs the A380 on routes to London, Zurich, Frankfurt, Paris, Mumbai, Beijing, Sydney, Melbourne, Los Angeles and New York. SIA is also currently a far reaching global carrier and is a cornerstone member of Star Alliance.

Modern history[]

A Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400, dubbed Megatop, at Auckland Airport, New Zealand. The Megatop was the flagship of the airline from 1989 until the introduction of the Airbus A380 in October 2007

In 2004, SIA began non-stop trans-Pacific flights from Singapore to Los Angeles and Newark, utilising the Airbus A340-500. These flights marked the first non-stop air services between Singapore and the USA. The Singapore to Newark flight held the record for the longest scheduled commercial flight, with a flying time of about 18 hours each way. Singapore Airlines has converted its five Airbus A340-500 aircraft from a 64 Business Class/117 Premium Economy Class configuration to a 100-seat all- Business Class configuration for its routes to Newark and Los Angeles.

In January 2009, SIA took the decision to stop its thrice weekly flights to Vancouver, Canada as the global financial crisis had sapped demand on the route. The last flight was scheduled to take place on 25 April 2009.[15]

At a Cabinet meeting on 22 February 2006, the Government of Australia decided not to grant fifth freedom rights to Singapore Airlines on flights from Australia to the United States.[16] Singapore Airlines had argued that transpacific flights from Australia suffered from under-capacity, leading to limited competition and relatively high air fares.[16] The move was seen as a measure taken to protect Qantas from increased competition.[16] SIA had encountered such protectionist measures in the past when SIA was shut out from the Toronto market after complaints from Air Canada, and was forced to stop flying Boeing 747-400s into Jakarta in the wake of protests from Garuda Indonesia when it could not use similar equipment to compete.[17]

Singapore Airlines, along with Star Alliance partner South African Airways, was fined 25 million South African Rand (S$4.1 million) as an administrative penalty to partially settle a price-fixing investigation against the airline by the South African Competition Commission from 2008 to 2012.[18]

On 6 April 2012, Singapore Airlines phased out the last 747 in its fleet after 40 years of service. A final round-trip commemorative flight was operated from Singapore to Hong Kong with flight numbers SQ747 and SQ748 respectively. As well as an extended flying time, special meals, performances and inflight celebrations, passengers were given well stocked 747 goody bags.[19]

The airline announced that it will end its direct flights from Singapore to both Newark and Los Angeles from 23 November 2013 and 20 October 2013, respectively. The flight to Newark was considered the longest flights in the world. However, Los Angeles will continue to be served from Singapore via Tokyo-Narita.[20][21] On 13 October 2015, Singapore Airlines announced that it had signed an agreement with Airbus to be the launch customer of a new version of the Airbus A350 XWB called the A350-900ULR (for "Ultra Long Range"). The flights began on 11 October 2018, with regular daily commercially scheduled flights starting from 18 October 2018.[22] This version of the A350 would have a 2 class layout, with 67 Business Class seats and 94 Premium Economy seats.[23]

SIA was the launch customer for the Boeing 787-10, and it was delivered on 25 March 2018.[24]

In June 2018, Singapore Airlines and subsidiary Scoot listed Taiwan as part of China under the requirement of Chinese civil aviation administration.[25]

Airbus A380[]

Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 taking off at Zürich Airport in March 2011.

On 29 September 2000, SIA announced an order for up to 25 Airbus A3XX (as the A380 was known at the time). The US$8.6 billion order comprised a firm order of 10 aircraft, with options on another 15 airframes.[26] The order was confirmed by Singapore Airlines on 12 July 2001. In January 2005, the airline unveiled the slogan "First to Fly the A380 – Experience the Difference in 2006", to promote itself as the first airline to take delivery of the A380-800, which was expected to take place in the second quarter of 2006.[27] In June 2005, Airbus confirmed that due to unforeseen technical problems, initial deliveries of the Airbus A380 would be delayed by up to six months,[28] with the first delivery now slated for November 2006. The announcement was met with fury by SIA's chief executive officer, Chew Choon Seng, who threatened to sue Airbus, saying: "Airbus took some time to acknowledge the delay in the timetable for the A380's entry into service...I would have expected more sincerity."[29]

He further stated that SIA will be turning its attention to Boeing instead, since it would be receiving the Boeing 777-300ER before the A380. Nevertheless, SIA has indicated that this would not affect its promotional campaign. In February 2006, the first A380 in full Singapore Airlines livery was flown to Singapore, where it was displayed at Asian Aerospace 2006. On 14 June 2006, Singapore Airlines placed an initial order for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner as part of its future aircraft expansion. The order consisted of 20 787-9s and rights for 20 more. This order came one day after Airbus announced that the A380 Superjumbo would be delayed by another 6 months. A third delay was announced on 3 October 2006, pushing the initial delivery of the first A380 to October 2007.[30]

On 25 October 2007, the first commercial A380 service, SQ 380,[31] carried 455 passengers from Singapore to Sydney, touching down in Sydney Airport at 3:24 pm local time, where it received significant attention from the media.[32] The airline donated all revenue generated from the flight to three charities in a ceremony the next day in Sydney. SIA began regular services with the A380 on 28 October 2007. It eventually served London, Tokyo, Paris, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Zurich, Los Angeles as well as New York JFK (via Frankfurt) [33][34][35][36][37]

On 18 February 2009, SIA carried its one millionth A380 passenger.[38]

In 2012, SIA announced that it would order a further five more A380 planes (along with an order for 20 Airbus A350 XWB orders).[39]

In 2016 the airline confirmed that one A380 would be returned to its leasing company at the end of its 10-year lease in October 2017, with a decision still to be made regarding retention of four additional A380 aircraft whose leases expire between January and June 2018.[40]

Fleet reductions[]

On 16 February 2009 the airline announced that it would remove 17 aircraft from its operating fleet between April 2009 and March 2010, as part of a cost-saving initiative to help counter falling passenger and cargo demand, having originally planned to phase out only four aircraft. The airline stated that it could not rule out delaying deliveries on aircraft already ordered.[41][42]

Formula One[]

On 15 April 2014 Singapore Airlines announced that it would become the title sponsor for the Singapore Grand Prix, taking over Singtel who had sponsored the event since 2008.[43][44] In August 2015, the airlines announced that it would extend its sponsorship another 2 years until 2017.[45] In April 2020 SIA announced that they would continue to sponsor the event until 2021.[46]

Integration of SilkAir into Singapore Airlines and COVID-19 pandemic[]

On 18 May 2018, Singapore Airlines announced that the SilkAir fleet would undergo a major cabin product upgrade from 2020 before being fully merged into the parent company.[47][48][49] As part of the merger, SilkAir's website was discontinued and integrated into Singapore Airlines' website on 31 March 2019.[50] Cabin upgrades were expected to begin in 2020.[51] On 11 February 2019, Singapore Airlines announced that Thompson Aero Seating had been selected for the upgrade of the SilkAir business class seats, prior to their incorporation into the Singapore Airlines fleet, with work beginning in May 2020.[52]

Like other airlines, Singapore Airlines has been badly hit by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. It began to cut capacity since 23 January 2020.[53] On 19 March 2020, airline and the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs agreed to work together to help bring back Singaporeans stuck in the UK as a result of the pandemic. The arrangement made was to prioritise students but also to bring back Singaporeans and Singapore Permanent Residents from all countries with the aim for the exercise to be completed by the end of March.[54][55]

On 23 March 2020, Singapore Airlines (SIA) announced that with SilkAir, Singapore Airlines will slash 96% of their capacity. About 138 Singapore Airlines and SilkAir aircraft will be grounded.[56] In addition, on 24 March, SIA announced further measures to help reduce costs while the majority of the fleet is grounded. Captains would be required to take seven days of compulsory no-pay leave per month; first officers would have to take five days; while second officers would take four days.[57] On 25 April, SIA announced that the cancellations would be extended all the way through to the end of June.[58] Headcount was reduced during the COVID-19, with several staff retrenched.[59][60]

In the second stimulus package or Resilience Budget on 26 March 2020, DPM Heng Swee Keat announced there would be additional support given to the aviation industry. In it, he announced that firms in the aviation and tourism sectors will receive 75 per cent co-funding per local worker, but would be subject to a monthly wage cap of S$4,600, up until the end of 2020. At the same time, there would be an enhancement to the package that would support the aviation sector more broadly to the tune of S$350 million. This would be used to fund rebates on landing and parking charges, and rental relief for airlines, ground handlers and cargo agents.[61] On the same day it was reported that SIA was considering corporate action with the support of shareholder and government linked corporation, Temasek Holdings.[62] This was confirmed on the 27 March, after the airline announced that it was raising some S$8.8 billion through a mixture of shares and bonds, which would be issued at a discount. As a result, the share ended the day down 43 cents or 6.6% from the end of the previous day's market close.[63]

With the significant reduction in flights, SIA agreed to provide retrenched staff to help with transport ambassadors, social distancing ambassadors, healthcare staff and contact tracing, others were also moved on to various companies like Lazada, Shopback and Shopee.[64] It was announced that the airline would consolidate all their Changi Airport operations from 1 May 2020 in to Terminal 3.[65] In response to the government mandated "circuit breaker" from 7 April to 1 June, SIA announced that it would shut down its service centre located at the ION Orchard shopping mall during the lockdown period.[66]

On 10 April SIA announced that they would offer a full cash refund on Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and Scoot tickets bought during the COVID-19 pandemic. Alternatively they could choose a credit option for which they would be offered additional flight credits.[67]

It was reported on 27 March 2020, SIA received a rescue package of S$19 billion to get over the difficult period.[68] Its major shareholder Temasek Holdings will underwrite the package which contains S$5.3 billion equity and S$9.7 billion convertible note.[68] Singapore's biggest bank DBS will also lend it S$4 billion to help it get over the crisis and position itself for expansion.[68]

On 27 April 2020, Singapore Airlines and Scoot confirmed that they will be storing 4 A380s, 3 Boeing 777s and 2 Airbus A320s respectively at Alice Springs. It was mentioned that they will be holding an extraordinary general meeting to discuss about the funding to ensure the survival of the carrier.[69]

From 10 May, Singapore Airlines announced that it is mandatory to wear masks during the entire flight. Social distancing was ruled out as it may incur high costs. Hot towels were replaced by wet wipes.[70] On 14 May 2020, Singapore Airlines announced a full year loss for Financial Year 2019/2020 of S$212 million, this was the first loss in its 48 years of operation.[71][72]

On 1 June 2020, Singapore Airlines announced that it intended to restart flights that are declared safe to certain destinations such as Adelaide, Amsterdam, Auckland, Barcelona, Brisbane, Cebu, Christchurch, Copenhagen, Hong Kong, Medan, Melbourne and Osaka, for June and July, subject to regulatory approval. This would bring flight reductions to 94 per cent from the 96 per cent cut reported in March.[73] From 11 June 2020, it would allow passengers on Singapore Airlines and SilkAir flying from certain Australian and New Zealand cities in would be allowed to transit through Changi Airport, subject to certain conditions. The cities were Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth (via Scoot) and Sydney in Australia, while Auckland and Christchurch for New Zealand. Transfers would only be allowed between airlines within the SIA Group and that passengers will be segregated at Changi Airport between high-risk and low-risk zones.[74] On 13 July 2020, the airline announced that while it would not increase the number of destinations it would serve in August, it would increase the frequency of flights, albeit only slightly; resulting in operations of around 7 percent of its scheduled capacity, up from 6 per cent for July.[75] On 24 July 2020, Singapore Airlines announced that they would reinstate flights in August and September to the following destinations: Cebu, Milan, Phnom Penh and Taipei. This comes alongside and increase in frequency to certain destinations.[76]

On 29 July, SIA reported that it had made S$1.12 billion net loss in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the S$111 million profit it had made in the same period a year ago. Although expenditure had fallen 51.6 per cent to S$1.89 billion but revenue collapsed 79.3 per cent year-on-year to S$851 million.[77]

On 11 September, it was reported that SIA was considering launching 3 hour flights to nowhere, but decided to organise tour of SIA's training facilities, lunch onboard A380 and delivery of meals to homes instead.[78][79]

On 5 October, SIA announced that it was increasing it flights through to year end such that passenger capacity would reach around 15% of its normal capacity. As part of this, flights (including SilkAir) to would resume to Brunei, Fukuoka, Kathmandu and Male by the end of the year. This comes on top of increasing frequency on routes already served such as Amsterdam, Bangkok, Dhaka, Hong Kong and Melbourne.[80] On 28 January 2021, SilkAir ceased its operations and merged with Singapore Airlines, but only carefully reinstating destinations, while demand will not fully recover.[81][82][83]

On 12 October, bookings for meals on one of Singapore Airlines A380s were sold out within 30mins. There would be four classes available for booking - economy ($50), premium economy ($90), business ($300), suites ($600) and the menus would include international cuisines and a Peranakan menu customised for the "restaurant". Each meal will come with two free alcoholic drinks and a free flow of other beverages. At the same time, diner would be entitled to other perks such as KrisShop discounts as well as a goodie bag. In addition, those diners who wore traditional heritage wear would get an additional gift.[84]

On 20 October, it was announced that SIA would restart the nonstop flights between Changi Airport and New York's John F. Kennedy (JFK) three times a week on 9 November.[85]

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