Singapore Airlines Ltd. history, profile and corporate video
Singapore Airlines Ltd. provides passenger and cargo air transportation services. The company operates through the following segments: Airline Operations, Engineering Services, Cargo Operations and Other Services. The Airline Operations segment provides passenger air transportation. The Engineering Services segment offers airframe maintenance and overhaul services, line maintenance, technical ground handling services, and fleet management programs. It also manufactures aircraft cabin equipment; refurbishes aircraft galleys; provides technical and non-technical handling services; and repairs and overhauls hydro-mechanical aircraft equipment. The Cargo Operations segment is involved in air cargo transportation and related services. The Other Services segment includes training of pilots, air charters, and tour wholesaling. The company was founded on January 28, 1972 and is headquartered in Singapore.”
“Singapore Airlines History
Origin
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 BritishStraits Settlement of Singapore to Kuala Lumpur on 2 April 1947 using an Airspeed Consul twin-engined aircraft. Regular weekly scheduled flights quickly followed from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Penang from 1 May 1947 with the same aircraft type.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. 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 theDouglas DC-4 Skymaster, the Vickers Viscount, the Lockheed 1049 Super Constellation, the Bristol Britannia, the de Havilland Comet 4and 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
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.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 Adswas 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, 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.
In 1977 British Airways and Singapore Airlines shared a Concorde for flights between London andSingapore 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. The service was discontinued after three return flights because of noise complaints from the Malaysian government; it could only be reinstated on a new route bypassing Malaysian airspace in 1979. A dispute with India prevented Concorde from reaching supersonic speeds in Indian airspace so the route was discontinued 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.
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, Sydney, Melbourne, Los Angeles and New York. SIA is also currently a far reaching global carrier and is a cornerstone member of Star Alliance.”
*Information from Forbes.com and Wikipedia.org
**Video published on YouTube by “Singapore Airlines“