Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-412

Singapore Airlines (SIA) is the national airline of Singapore.

One of Asia's most influential and successful airlines, it has a presence in most parts of Asia and Oceania, as well as having major operations in Europe and North America.

Its subsidiary, Silkair manages flights to secondary cities and less profitable routes to Southeast Asia, as well as cities in China and India. Cargo operations are handled by Singapore Airlines Cargo.

Singapore Airlines is also the parent company of the low-cost Tiger Airways, based in Singapore. The combined entity is the world's second largest carrier by market capitalisation, only trailing behind Southwest Airlines of USA. Singapore Airlines ranks amongst the global top 15 in terms of Revenue Passenger Kilometres according to Air Transport World (http://www.atwonline.com).

Contents

1 Code Data

2 History

2.1 Early History
2.2 Modern History

3 Incidents and Accidents

4 Subsidiaries and Alliances

4.1 Subsidiaries
4.2 Associates
4.3 Joint ventures
4.4 Operational alliances

Code Data

IATA Code: SQ
ICAO Code: SIA
Callsign: Singapore

History

Early History

Singapore Airlines began as "Malayan Airways Limited" in 1946, mounting its first flight on the 1st of May, 1947. It started off flying an Airspeed Consul twin-engined airplane between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, and Penang (two cities and an island in West Malaysia).

The remainder of the 1940s was a growth period for Malayan Airlines, as was the 1950s. World War II had just ended and people around the world wanted to travel, and the residents of Singapore and Malaya were no exception. By 1955, Malayan Airlines' fleet had grown to include a large number of Douglas DC-3s.

In 1963, the creation of the Federation of Malaysia brought a change of name, to "Malaysian Airways". In 1966, the name was changed again, this time to "Malaysia-Singapore Airlines" (MSA), following Singapore's independence from the Federation of Malaysia the previous year.

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's airline company had 10 aircraft at that time. However, Singapore Airlines' hostesses continued to wear the sarong kebaya dress, which had previously been used by MSA. While airlines in Western countries shied away from recruiting young women, Singapore Airlines promoted the image of the 'Singapore Girl' in its advertising.

Modern History

Singapore Airlines saw rapid growth. during the 1970s, adding many cities in the Indian subcontinent and Asia to the 22 city network it already served, and acquiring Boeing 747 airplanes. During the 1980s, the United States, Canada, and many European cities joined Singapore Airlines' route map. During this time, Madrid became the first and only Hispanic city to be served by Singapore Airlines. In the 1990s, Singapore Airlines began flights to Johannesburg in South Africa, the first African destination for the airline, with the cities of Cape Town and Durban being added.

During the 1990s, Singapore Airlines licensed model aeroplane companies like Schabak, Wooster plastic aeroplanes, Herpa Wings and many others, to manufacture promotional plane models for them. Their Boeing 747's became known as the Megatops, and they ordered Boeing 777 and Airbus equipment to complement the Megatops.

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 the A340-500. This is also the first long-haul passenger air service offered by any airline.

In 2005, The airline unveiled the advertising campaign, "First To Fly In 2006", to promote itself as the world's first airline to take delivery of the A380-800 double-decker super jumbo, due to take in the 2nd quarter of 2006 on Singapore-London, Singapore-Sydney. However, Airbus has announced that due to technical delays, the giant aircraft will be delayed for up to six months. In spite of this, SIA has said that this would not affect its promotional campaign.

Incidents and Accidents

On 26 March, 1991, Singapore Airlines Flight 117, piloted by Captain Stanley Lim on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore, was hijacked in mid-flight by four Pakistanis, led by Zahid Hussain Soomro, demanding that the plane be flown to Sydney. The crisis ended at Singapore Changi Airport, where all four were killed by Singapore Armed Forces Commandos, with none of the 123 passengers and crew suffering injury or death.

On 31 October, 2000, Singapore Airlines Flight 006, flying on a Singapore Changi Airport-Chiang Kai Shek International Airport-Los Angeles International Airport route, crashed during takeoff from Taipei for its second leg, killing 79 passengers and 3 crew members.

On 19 April, 2005, a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-200 stopped approximately 194 meters beyond a painted stop line at Bangkok International Airport, and its left wing-tip was clipped by a Thai Airways plane taxiing for take-off.

Subsidiaries and Alliances

The Singapore Airlines Group consists over 50 subsidiaries and associates, including:

Operational alliances

Singapore Airlines owns a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic Airways, the transaction being completed on 30 March 2000. The airline also owns a 49% stake in Tiger Airways, a low-cost carrier flying from Singapore.

It previously owned 25% of Air New Zealand (down to 4.5% after the government of New Zealand bought into the airline to rescue it from bankruptcy). It is also a member of the Star Alliance, which it joined in April 2000.

Code Sharing

The airline has code-share agreements with the following airlines:

Air Canada
Air India
Air New Zealand
All Nippon Airways
Asiana
Austrian Airlines
BMI British Midland
Egypt Air (new thrice weekly CAI-DXB-SIN-SYD)
Japan Airlines (on Singapore Airlines Cargo)
Lufthansa Airlines
Malaysia Airlines
Royal Brunei Airlines
Scandinavian Airlines System (on Singapore Airlines Cargo)
Silk Air (on selected routes)
Vietnam Airlines
Virgin Atlantic Airways

Fleet

Main article: Singapore Airlines fleet

Singapore Airlines operates one of the newest fleets in Asia. Its fleet features aircraft from 3 aircraft families, including Boeing 747, Boeing 777, and Airbus A340.

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 in December 2006. It has 10 of these aircraft on order and options on a further 15 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).

**Current fleet by aircraft size**
(as of March 1, 2005)
Aircraft	Engine	In Operation	On Order	On Option	Type	Seat Configuration
Airbus A340-541	Rolls-Royce Trent 553	5	0	0	Ultra long haul	J64/Y117(181)
Airbus A380-841	Rolls-Royce Trent 900	0	10	15	Long haul
Boeing 747-412	Pratt & Whitney PW4056	27	0	0	Long haul	P12/J50/Y310(372), P12/J50/Y313(375)
Boeing 777-212ER	Rolls-Royce Trent 884	17	0	0	Medium haul	J30/Y293(323)
Boeing 777-212ER	Rolls-Royce Trent 884	14	0	0	Medium haul	P12/J42/Y234(288)
Boeing 777-212ER	Rolls-Royce Trent 892	15	0	0	Long haul	J30/Y255(285)
Boeing 777-312	Rolls-Royce Trent 892	12	0	0	Medium haul	P18/J49/Y265(332)
Boeing 777-312ER	General Electric GE90-115B	0	19	13	Long haul
Total		90	29	28

Notes

Contrary to popular belief, all of Singapore Airlines' 777-212s are the Extended Range (ER) models; featuring center 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 656,000lb Maximum Takeoff Weights (MTOWs) 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 strong 14 B747-412F fleet dubbed MegaArk.

The Boeing 777 planes on order/option can be for any model in the aircraft family type (except for the Boeing 777-300ER, which were part of a separate order signed in August 2004)

The airline has a history of dubbing its fleet according to plane makes. The existing 29 Boeing 747-400s are dubbed "Megatop", while the 55 Boeing 777s are called "Jubilee". The 5 Airbus A340-500s were named "Leadership," but that has since been dropped.

A listing of previously used names 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.

British Airways, for a short period of time, flew a Concorde (registered G-BOAD) 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.

Singapore Airlines is the largest Boeing 777 operator in the world with 57 in service and options for more.

Singapore Airlines has a in-flight entertainment system, KrisWorld, which screens the latest movies and includes Nintendo games. Each seat has it own personal television. First Class (Raffles Class) Skysuites have 14 televisions and Business class seats are called Spacebeds with 180° recline.

Flight Numbers

Main article: Singapore Airlines 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, Southwest Asia and Africa-bound destinations
SQ500-SQ599: Unutilised
SQ600-SQ699: Supplementary flights
SQ700-SQ799: Unutilised
SQ800-SQ949: Greater China and Korea-bound destinations
SQ950-SQ999: Japan-bound destinations
SQ1000-SQ1099: North America codeshares via Air Canada
SQ2000-SQ2299: Europe codeshares via Lufthansa Airlines
SQ2500-SQ2699: Europe codeshares via Virgin Atlantic
SQ2700-SQ2899: Europe codeshares via Austrian Airlines
SQ2900-SQ2999: Europe codeshares via BMI British Midland
SQ3000-SQ3999: Singapore Airlines Cargo flights
SQ5000-SQ5399: Southeast Asia codeshares via Silkair
SQ5100-SQ5499: Southeast Asia codeshares via Royal Brunei Airlines
SQ5500-SQ5899: Southeast Asia codeshares via Malaysia Airlines
SQ5900-SQ5999: East Asia codeshares via All Nippon Airways
SQ6000-SQ6199: Oceania codeshares via Ansett Australia, now defunct
SQ6200-SQ6999: Oceania codeshares via Air New Zealand
SQ7000-SQ7999: Singapore Airlines Cargo flights

Service

Consistently rated as one of the best airlines in the world. However, customer service by the Singapore Girls (air stewardess) may be inconsistent - it has been reported that excellent service is rendered to foreigners but not local passengers.

Main article: Singapore Airlines destinations

Events in 2005

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 increased to 3 times daily. Egypt Air will soon begin codesharing with Singapore Airlines on the Cairo-Dubai-Singapore-Sydney route.

External links

Template:Commons

Singapore Airlines (http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/app/saa)
Singapore Airlines Fleet Detail (http://www.planemad.net/Airline/SG/Singapore_Airlines_(SQ_SIA)/Fleet.htm?show=all)
Singapore Airlines Passenger Opinions (http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/sia.htm)
Comprehensive review of Singapore Airlines (http://airreview.members.beeb.net/Singapore/index.htm)
Yellowikis has contact details for Singapore Airlines here (http://www.yellowikis.org/wiki/index.php/Singapore_Airlines)