Blog 84: Fleet Analysis - Singapore Airlines!
Welcome back to Brooke In The Air! This week we’re continuing our fleet analysis segment by going over the consistently top-rated Singapore Airlines- averaging 5 stars per year on every metric since at least 2017.
Singapore Airlines’ Boeing 747-400 in tropical special livery at Changi Airport, Singapore.
OVERVIEW & BRIEF HISTORY
Singapore Airlines (abbreviation: SIA or SQ) is the flag carrier of Singapore with its hub located at Changi Airport, and a member of the Star Alliance. The airline is notable for highlighting the Singapore Girl as its central figure in the corporate branding segment. Widely renowned as one of the best carriers, the airline is ranked as a 5-star airline by Skytrax, and it has also been ranked as the world's best airline five times. The airline operates a variety of Airbus and Boeing aircraft, namely the A350, A380, Boeing 737, Boeing 747 Freighter, Boeing 777 and Boeing 787.
Singapore Airlines Group has more than 20 subsidiaries, including numerous 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. Scoot, a wholly owned subsidiary, operates as a low-cost carrier.
Singapore Airlines was the first to put the Airbus A380—the world's largest passenger aircraft—as well as the Boeing 787-10 into service, and is the only operator of the ultra-long-range (ULR) version of the Airbus A350-900. It ranks amongst the top 15 carriers worldwide in terms of revenue passenger kilometres 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 has also won the second and fourth positions as the World's Best Airlines and World's Cleanest Airlines respectively in 2019. In 2023, the airline for the fifth time took the prize of "Best Airline" as well as the "Best First Class Airline" by Skytrax.
Ranked as a 5-star airline by Skytrax for the last 2 decades, It has also been ranked amongst the top 10 air carriers worldwide in terms of the scale of revenue-passengers-kilometres, and 10th in the world for the volume of international passengers carried.
Singapore Airlines is also one of the largest airline businesses in Asia, with nonstop or direct flights to destinations in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and North America. The airline's slogan is "A Great Way To Fly". The airline is notable for not having significantly changed its livery throughout its history, as well as the Singapore Girl, which was first introduced in 1972.
Malayan Airways, initiated by the collaboration of the Ocean Steam Ship Company of Liverpool, the Straits Steamship Company of Singapore, and Imperial Airways, played a pivotal role in shaping the aviation landscape post-World War II. The incorporation of Malayan Airways Limited (MAL) on 1 May 1947, marked the beginning of a new era. The airline's inaugural flight, a chartered journey from the British Straits Settlement of Singapore to Kuala Lumpur on 2 April 1947, set the stage for regular weekly scheduled flights to destinations such as Ipoh and Penang starting from 1 May 1947, utilizing Airspeed Consul twin-engined aircraft.
Continuing its expansion throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Malayan Airways received technical assistance from other Commonwealth airlines, including BOAC and Qantas Empire Airways. Joining IATA further propelled its growth. By 1955, Malayan Airways boasted a fleet featuring a substantial number of Douglas DC-3, and the company went public in 1957. The first two decades saw the operation of various aircraft, including the Douglas Douglas DC-4 Skymaster, the Vickers Viscount, the Lockheed 1049 Super Constellation, the Bristol Britannia, the de Havilland Comet 4 and the Fokker F27. This period of dynamic development set the stage for the emergence of two prominent carriers, Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines, with Malayan Airways laying the foundation for their future success.
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 routes, 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. In 1970, the airline began what turned out to be very lengthy negotiations aimed at obtaining approval to operate services to the US.
MSA ceased operations in 1972, and both Singapore Airlines and Malaysian Airlines System commenced operations in its place. The reason for this development was strategic: Singapore wanted to increase its international routes, but Malaysia wanted to develop its domestic network before moving on to international routes. Singapore Airlines kept all of MSA's Boeing 707s and 737s, and 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 expanded almost overnight after the split from MSA in 1972, adding cities in the Indian subcontinent and Asia to its network, and new airliners, including Boeing 747s, to its fleet. The first two 747s arrived in the summer of 1973 and were deployed on the lucrative Singapore-Hong Kong-Taipei-Tokyo (Haneda Airport) run. As of 1976, SIA had an all-Boeing fleet of 21 aircraft: 5 Boeing 737-100s, 11 Boeing 707-300s, and 5 Boeing 747-200s. The airline's passenger network covered 28 cities in 23 countries, ranging from London in the north west to Auckland in the south east. The 737s flew regional services, including most of the company's 52 flights per week to Kuala Lumpur. The larger airliners operated on longer distance routes. Flights to London were operated daily by 747s, departing from Singapore International Airport at Paya Lebar at 8.30 pm each night, but with a variety of flight numbers and routings. On Tuesday and Saturday nights at 9.00 pm, a 707 flight departed for Amsterdam.
CORPORATE AFFAIRS
Singapore Airlines is majority-owned by the Singapore government investment and holding company Temasek Holdings, which held 55% of voting stock as of 31 March 2020.
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 easing 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, a former hangar at the Changi Airport, its only base and hub, in Singapore.
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.
BRANDING
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.
In May 1966 Malaysian Airways (MAL) became Malaysia-Singapore Airlines (MSA). The original MSA livery features a yellow MSA logo on the vertical stabiliser and a black nose, with a white and grey fuselage. All aircraft in this original livery have been repainted or retired.
Following the spinoff of Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines introduced a second-generation livery features a blue and yellow strip on the windows on the white fuselage, with the kris bird logo. The word "Singapore Airlines" was stylised in italics.
The current livery has only some minor changes, and the gold-blue color scheme and the bird logo have been retained. In the change to the current livery, the yellow rear fuselage was changed to metallic gold with a new orange line added above it. The same orange line was also added behind the bird logo. The font typeface of the word "Singapore Airlines" In 2005, the livery received a minor update where the "Singapore Airlines" wording was enlarged and shifted closer towards the front of the aircraft, and the bird logo was also enlarged. The blue/gold sections of the tail is cut horizontally. The first set of windows are also no longer left out from the blue/gold/yellow strip. The engine logos were also subsequently removed a few years later.
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 design firms James Park Associates and DesignworksUSA, released new cabin products for the first, business, and economy classes. They debutted on the carrier's new Boeing 777-300ERs delivered from 2013 onwards, with London's Heathrow Airport being their maiden route. The product was later introduced on its Airbus A350s and extended to all its older Boeing 777-300ERs.
On 2 November 2017, Singapore Airlines released new cabin products for the Airbus A380-800. These new changes cost roughly S$1.16 billion and were 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 3-4-3 Economy Class seats on the lower deck. The new changes were rolled out on the five new Airbus A380 aircraft that were delivered to Singapore Airlines, while the existing A380 fleet had these new products retrofitted until 2020. Sydney was the first city served with the new product on 18 December 2017.
Business Class
The current version of the Business Class was unveiled on 9 July 2013 and is available on refitted Boeing B777-300ERs and the Airbus A350-900. Features include a 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 78 in (198.1 cm) 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 30 in (76 cm) 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 15.4 in (39.1 cm) 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 layouts are available on 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 (39 cm) screen.
In 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 26 in (66.0 cm) in width and can be reclined into a 76-inch (193.0 cm) fully flat bed. There are also adjustable dividers at the centre seats to provide passengers with a "customised level of privacy".
Unveiled on 2nd of November in 2017, the new A380 business-class seats were 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. When the centre divider is fully lowered, the pair of centre seats directly behind each bulkhead can form double beds. There is also an 18-inch (46 cm) touchscreen LCD TV and a panel containing power and USB port, as well as an NFC reader for contactless payments.
Economy Class
A redesign of the economy class seat was unveiled on 9 July 2013 alongside new first and business class products. Features include 32-inch (81 cm) of legroom, slimmer seats, an adjustable headrest, and an 11.1-inch (28 cm) 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 be available exclusively onboard factory-fresh Airbus A350-900 and refitted Boeing 777-300ER.
The previous generation economy class seats on unrefitted Airbus A380-800, and Airbus A330-300 are 19 in (48 cm) wide, have in-seat power and have a 10.6-inch (27 cm) 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 22nd of 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.
CATERING
Example of SQ’s catering in Business class and above
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.
Singapore is the only airline to have 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 long-haul flights.
IN-FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT (IFE)
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 provided 14 movies, 36 television programmes, and 5 cartoons, as well as many Super NES 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.
KrisWorld logo by Singapore Airlines
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 the Boeing 777-300ER.
A NEW UPDATE
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.
THE FLEET
Singapore Airlines operates a predominantly widebody fleet, until the second re-introduction of the Boeing 737 in March 2021 following the merger with SilkAir. The airline also operates Boeing 747-400F and Boeing 777F freighters as Singapore Cargo. As of December 2023, there were 161 aircraft registered in the Singapore Airlines fleet, comprising 149 passenger aircraft and 12 freighters.
On May 16, 2023, Singapore Airlines confirmed that it had cancelled orders for eight Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft and swapped an order for three 787-9s to three 787-10s.
The following is current as of February 2024.
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Widebody:
Airbus A350-900XWB - 63 in-service, 2 on-order
Airbus A350-900ULR - 7 in-service
Airbus A380-800 - 14 in-service
Boeing 777-300ER - 26 in-service
Boeing 777X(9) - 31 on-order
Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner - 21 in-service, 3 on-order
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Narrow-body:
Boeing 737-800 - 7 in-service
Boeing 737-MAX8 - 16 in-service, 13 on-order
