Category Archives: Singapore Airlines

Tigerair’s quarterly loss widens to $143.3 million, Singapore Airlines jumps in and takes a majority 55% stake, will sublease 12 A320s to IndiGo

Tiger Airways Holdings Limited (Tigerair) (Singapore) has reported an operating loss of S$25.3 million ($19.8 million US) for the quarter ended September 30, 2014 (Fiscal Second Quarter), compared to an operating loss of S$12.8 million ($10.0 million US) recorded in the previous corresponding quarter last year

Tigerair Singapore recorded an operating loss of S$31.3 million ($24.5 million US) for the quarter compared to S$18.1 million $14.2 million US) a year ago. Revenue decreased by 4.9% to S$143.9 million ($113 million US) on the back of a rationalization of Tigerair Singapore’s network. The resulting improvement in load factor (+4 percentage point), was nevertheless offset by lower yields (-10.4%). Expenses increased by 3.4% to $175.2 million on higher unit cost (+3.1%).

The Group recorded loss after tax of S$182.4 million ($143.3 million US) in the Fiscal Second Quarter, compared to profit after tax of S$23.8 million $18.7 million US) a year ago. In total, the Group recorded one-off accounting provisions aggregating S$161.1 million in 2QFY15, mainly comprising S$99.3 million $126.6 million US) relating to the sublease of surplus aircraft and S$59.8 million ($46.9 million) for the divestment of Tigerair Australia.

According to the airline, “Tigerair’s largest shareholder, Singapore Airlines Limited (Singapore), has undertaken to subscribe for its pro rata entitlement, and also subscribe for excess Rights Shares, up to a total of S$140 million. Prior to the Rights Issue, SIA will convert its perpetual convertible capital securities (PCCS) holdings into Shares. The conversion will raise SIA’s stake in Tigerair from 40% to approximately 55% before the Rights Issue, effectively making Tigerair a subsidiary of SIA. SIA will not be making a general offer as Tigerair’s minority shareholders had approved a whitewash resolution in March 2013 to waive their rights to receive a general offer as a result of the PCCS conversion.”

In other news, Tiger Airways Holdings group (Tigerair) has reached an agreement with InterGlobe Aviation Limited (IndiGo) relating to the subleasing of 12 of Tigerair’s surplus aircraft by the Indian budget carrier. This sublease arrangement enables the Group to reduce excess capacity significantly and hence lower related leasing cost.

Most of these aircraft were previously operated by Tigerair Philippines and Tigerair Mandala, and had been returned to the Group upon its divestment of Tigerair Philippines in March 2014 and Tigerair Mandala’s cessation of operations in July 2014.

These 12 aircraft will be progressively delivered to IndiGo over a period of six months commencing in October 2014. Each aircraft will be subleased for between three and four years. With the lease of one of the 12 aircraft expiring in 2018, only 11 of the aircraft will be returned to the Group at the end of their respective sublease periods. Following their return, seven of the 11 aircraft are expected to re-join the operating fleet, while the remaining four may be progressively re-introduced back to the service network within two years.

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-232 9V-TRI (msn 5596) of Tigerair (Singapore) arrives in Bangkok.

Tigerair (Singapore):

Tigerair (Singapore) Aircraft Slide Show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Asia-3/Airlines-Asia3-QZ/Tiger-Airways-Singapore

Singapore Airlines to bring the Airbus A380 to Auckland

Singapore Airlines (Singapore) will introduce the Airbus A380 on the Singapore-Auckland, New Zealand route on October 27 per Airline Route. The flight will operate daily.

Singapore Airlines:

JetBlue Airways and Singapore Airlines file for a codeshare agreement

JetBlue Airways (New York) and Singapore Airlines (Singapore) have filed an application with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to enter into a bilateral codeshare agreement.

JetBlue and Singapore Airlines have been interline partners since 2011. The expanded partnership would provide customers seamless connections between the two airlines, combining flights on both carriers and easily facilitating one-stop ticketing and baggage check-in. Flights will become available for sale pending regulatory approval.

Under the proposed codeshare, JetBlue customers would have access to five new cities in Europe and Asia, while Singapore Airlines customers would have access to 16 destinations in the U.S.

Under the proposed agreement, JetBlue would put its ‘B6′ code on Singapore Airlines’ flights to/from the U.S. including:

Los Angeles (LAX) – Tokyo (NRT) – Singapore (SIN)
New York (JFK) – Frankfurt (FRA) – Singapore (SIN)
San Francisco (SFO) – Hong Kong (HKG) – Singapore (SIN)
San Francisco (SFO) – Seoul (ICN) – Singapore (SIN)

In turn, Singapore Airlines would add its ‘SQ’ designator code on JetBlue-operated flights beyond its U.S. gateway at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to 16 key destinations:

Austin, Texas
Boston, Massachusetts
Buffalo, New Yorkk
Charlotte, North Carolina
Chicago, Illinois (O’Hare)
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, Florida
Houston, Texas
Jacksonville, Florida
Orlando, Florida
New Orleans, Louisiana
Portland, Maine
Rochester, New York
Syracuse, New York
Tampa, Florida
Washington D.C. (Dulles)
West Palm Beach, Florida

Top Copyright Photo: Tony Storck/AirlinersGallery.com. JetBlue Airways’ Embraer ERJ 190-100 IGW N373JB (msn 19000624) in the Barcode tail design lands at Baltimore/Washington.

JetBlue Airways:

Singapore Airlines:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A380-841 9V-SKF (msn 012) taxies from the gate at Los Angeles International Airport.

Singapore Airlines to invest $325 million on its 19 Boeing 777-300s with new cabins and seats

Singapore Airlines (Singapore) will invest $325 million (US) to upgrade its 19 Boeing 777-300 ERs with according to the airline, “the latest generation of cabin products, featuring new seats in all classes of travel and the world’s most advanced in-flight entertainment system.

The significant investment program will provide consistency across the airline’s entire Boeing 777-300 ER fleet, with next-generation cabin products that are the new industry benchmark for premium air travel.”

Singapore Airlines introduced the new cabin products in September 2013 after taking delivery of the first of eight additional Boeing 777-300 ERs ordered from Boeing. The upgrade program will see the same products fitted to 19 existing Boeing 777-300 ERs. Installation work is expected to begin early in 2015, with all aircraft completed by September 2016.

The new cabin products are currently available on selected daily services to London Heathrow and Tokyo Narita. They were introduced after more than two years of development with world-renowned design firms, including BMW Group DesignworksUSA and James Park Associates.

The new First Class seat offers enhanced comfort, featuring a fixed-back shell design with curved side panels for added privacy. Set in a modern, welcoming cabin, the seat also features an ergonomically sculpted cushion and adjustable headrest, with customised in-seat lighting. At 35 inches in width and with an increased bed length of 82 inches, it is one of the most spacious First Class products in the sky.

The new Business Class seat offers greater recline at 132 degrees, with an improved ergonomic seat cushion. Two new seating positions have been introduced – ‘Lazy Z’ and ‘Sundeck’ – providing even greater flexibility for customers to choose their preferred ways to work or relax. When converted, it becomes the industry’s widest full-flat bed, at 78 inches in length, with a padded headboard cushion for enhanced comfort. More stowage space has also been added, with an amenity stowage area on the side console and laptop stowage area.

The new Economy Class seat also provides additional comfort, with increased personal space and legroom. Seats feature new backrest cushions with side bolsters for better support. An ergonomically sculpted headrest cushion provides an increased range of height adjustments and improved neck support.

Complementing the new seats is the latest KrisWorld in-flight entertainment system. Upgraded with the latest hardware offerings and an intuitive graphical user interface, it is the world’s most advanced in-flight entertainment system.

First Class customers can enjoy the new KrisWorld on a 24-inch LCD screen, with video touch-screen handset. Business Class features an 18-inch LCD screen and touch-screen handset, while Economy Class features an 11.1-inch touch-screen monitor and touch-screen handset.

Top Copyright Photo: Mark Durbin/AirlinersGallery.com (all others by Singapore Airlines).

Singapore Airlines Aircraft Slide Show: CLICK HERE

Singapore Airlines to sponsor the 2014 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix

Singapore Airlines (Singapore) has joined the group of airlines to sponsor Formula 1 Grand Prix races, following Etihad Airways, Gulf Air and QANTAS Airways.

In anticipation of this agreement, a photo-shoot was arranged on April 7 when the pictured Airbus A380-841 9V-SKS (msn 085) returned from a Los Angeles-Tokyo (Narita)-Singapore flight. 9V-SKS was towed to bay 102 for the special photo shoot.

Singapore Airlines issued this statement:

Singapore Airlines has signed an agreement with the Formula One Group to be the Title Sponsor of the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix.

This year’s event will take place from September 19-21 at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

Formula 1®, which began in 1950, is the world’s most prestigious motor racing competition and is the world’s most popular annual sporting series. In 2014 it was watched by over 450 million unique television viewers from 185 territories. The 2014 FIA Formula One World Championship™ runs from March to November and spans 19 races in 19 countries across five continents. Formula One World Championship Limited is a subsidiary of the Formula One group, founded by CEO Bernie Ecclestone, and holds the exclusive commercial rights to the FIA Formula One World Championship™.

Copyright Photo: Kok Chwee K.C. Sim/AirlinersGallery.com. 9V-SKS poses with a Formula 1 race car at bay 102 for special photo shoot.

Singapore Airlines:

The new Tata-Singapore Airlines Indian joint venture to lease 20 Airbus A320s from BOC Aviation

The unnamed Tata Group – Singapore Airlines (Singapore) joint airline venture in India has selected the Airbus A320 to power the new full-service airline. According to this report by Reuters, the JV will be leasing 20 Airbus A320s from BOC Aviation (Singapore). The Tata-Singapore JV airline is expected to launch operations in the second half of this year.

The Tata Group is also partnering with AirAsia to launch an unnamed low-fare joint venture airline in India.

The Indian market is exploding despite the recent failure of Kingfisher Airlines. Jet Airways is negotiating a large Boeing 737 order with Boeing.

The Tata Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India according to Wikipedia The group encompasses seven business sectors: communications and information technology, engineering, materials, services, energy, consumer products and chemicals. Tata Group was founded in 1868 by Jamsetji Tata as a trading company. It has operations in more than 80 countries across six continents. Tata Group has over 100 operating companies with each of them operating independently.

Tata Group remains a family-owned business, as the descendants of the founder (from the Tata family) own a majority stake in the company. The current chairman of the Tata group is Cyrus Pallonji Mistry, who took over from Ratan Tata in 2012.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Singapore Airlines and Air New Zealand agree to form an alliance, Singapore to operate its Airbus A380s to New Zealand

Singapore Airlines (Singapore) and Air New Zealand (Auckland) have agreed to form an alliance enabling Air New Zealand to fly the Auckland-Singapore route again and Singapore Airlines to operate the Airbus A380 to New Zealand for the first time.

The A380 would be operated daily by Singapore Airlines between Singapore and Auckland, progressively replacing an existing daily service with the smaller Boeing 777-300 ER. Air New Zealand would launch daily services between Auckland and Singapore using newly refitted Boeing 777-200 ER aircraft, taking over five flights currently operated by Singapore Airlines and adding two more weekly flights, increasing the frequency to daily.

Subject to regulatory approvals, the carriers would aim to boost their existing capacity between Singapore and New Zealand by up to 30% year round over time.

Singapore Airlines’ daily Singapore-Christchurch service would continue as part of the alliance.

The proposed alliance would enable Air New Zealand passengers to access codeshare travel on the Singapore Airlines network to the United Kingdom, Europe, South East Asia and Africa, as well as on the network of its regional subsidiary airline, SilkAir. Singapore Airlines’ customers would be able to access codeshare travel across the Air New Zealand domestic network and to selected international destinations.

The alliance would see Air New Zealand’s ‘NZ’ code return to Singapore Airlines’ network for the first time since 2007. Air New Zealand last operated to Singapore in 2006.

The parties are seeking approval for the alliance from the Competition Commission of Singapore and the New Zealand Minister of Transport. Pending approval, flights could commence as early as December 2014.

Top Copyright Photo: Andi Hiltl/AirlinersGallery.com. Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A380-841 9V-SKR (msn 082) gracefully climbs away from the runway at Zurich.

Singapore Airlines:

Air New Zealand:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Antony J. Best/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 777-219 ER ZK-OKA (msn 29404) arrives at London (Heathrow).

Singapore Airlines ends nonstop Singapore-Newark flights

Singapore Airlines (Singapore) last night (November 23) ended the world’s longest nonstop air route (9,506 miles, 19 hours) when it ended nonstop Singapore-Newark service. Previously the airline ended Los Angeles-Singapore nonstop service on October 22.

Singapore was the first to operate the world’s longest nonstop commercial flight between Singapore and Los Angeles in February 2004 on the Airbus A340-500, and then surpassing the record (in terms of distance) later that year with the nonstop service to Newark in June 2004.

Singapore Airlines is retiring its long range Airbus A340-500s. Five were operated on the two long-range routes to both Los Angeles and Newark.

Read the full report from the Star-Ledger via nj.com: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A340-541 9V-SGE (msn 563) exits the runway at Los Angeles International Airport.

Singapore Airlines:

Singapore Airlines and Tata Group to form a new Indian airline

Singapore Airlines (Singapore) and the Tata Group of India are coming to together to form a new full service Indian airline based in Delhi. Tata Sons will control 51 percent of the shares and Singapore the other 49 percent. The two entities will invest $100 million together according to this report by Reuters. Tata is the largest business group in India. Previously Tata in February announced a partnership with AirAsia (Kuala Lumpur) to form a new low-cost carrier based in Chennai, India.

Read the full report from Reuters: CLICK HERE

Singapore Airlines:

Singapore Airlines unveils its next generation cabin product and KrisWorld

Singapore Airlines (Singapore) has unveiled its next generation First, Business and Economy Class seats, together with the next generation KrisWorld, according to the airline “the world’s most advanced in-flight entertainment system”. The airline issued this statement:

Customers will soon be able to experience the next generation KrisWorld, the world’s most advanced in-flight entertainment system to date, on new Boeing 777-300 ERs entering Singapore Airlines’ fleet in the coming months.

The new KrisWorld, based on a Panasonic Avionics hardware platform, will initially be available on eight new Boeing 777-300 ERs that will begin to enter service from September 2013. It will also be introduced on new Airbus A350s scheduled for delivery in the coming years, in line with the terms of an agreement valued at nearly $400 million that was signed with Panasonic Avionics in 2012. Existing KrisWorld systems on other aircraft already in service may also be retrofitted with the new system.

Singapore Airlines agreed last year to be the launch customer for Panasonic Avionics’ next-generation eX3 system for the Airbus A350s, as well as the first to offer the eX3 experience on the Boeing 777-300ERs. The airline will also be the first to offer Panasonic’s Global Communications Suite on the A350s, with the capability to provide broadband Internet services to passenger devices and the seat-back, as well as mobile phone services.

The new KrisWorld features larger LCD screens and video touch-screen handsets across all classes. LCD screens will increase from 23 to 24 inches in First Class, 15.4 to 18 inches in Business Class and 10.6 to 11.1 inches in Economy Class. Economy Class customers will also be able to browse through the more than 1,000 on-demand entertainment options by swiping or scrolling through the touch-screen monitor.

Working with renowned design company Massive Interactive, Singapore Airlines has seamlessly integrated the functionality of the video touch-screen handset into the core design of a new, innovative KrisWorld user interface to ensure that navigating through menus and programmes is intuitive and user-friendly. Customers will be able to multi-task among the varied entertainment options available. For example, they may watch a movie, while at the same time use the handset to keep up to date with the latest news headlines or track the aircraft’s flight path. Alternatively, customers may use the handset as a touchscreen trackpad to navigate KrisWorld. New features such as “Quick Search”, where a flick of the handset pulls up a playlist of entertainment choices, are also being introduced.

Leveraging on technology, a number of thoughtful features are being incorporated into KrisWorld with customers’ convenience in mind. For example, the Notification Centre on the KrisWorld dashboard contains information relevant to the flight, reducing the number of onboard announcements, thereby allowing customers to watch movies uninterrupted.

Customers will also experience greater personalisation, with KrisWorld providing content recommendations based on passengers’ preferences. They may also rate movies and see how others have rated these.

Twenty-one aircraft have been equipped to date and the service will be rolled out to the rest of the Airline’s Airbus A380-800 and Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft by the end of next year. Inflight connectivity service on the 21 aircraft is provided by OnAir. For the new 777-300 ERs entering the fleet over the next two years, the service will be provided by Panasonic Avionics.

Key Features	First Class	Business Class	Economy Class
IFE screen size	61 centimetres 24 inches	46 centimetres 18 inches	28 centimetres 11.1 inches
Touch-screen handset	Available across all three classes
Ports	HDMI, USB & eXPort	HDMI, USB & eXPort	USB & eXPort
In-seat power supply	Available across all three classes
Headphones	Bose Quiet Comfort QC15noise-cancellation headphones	Phitek Supra Auranoise-cancellation headphones	Standard headphones
Entertainment – movies, TV, music, radio channels	More than 230 movies, over 340 TV programmes, 22 hosted radio programmes and more than 790 CDs.
Games	In addition to more than 80 interactive games including high performance 3D games, popular touch-screen games are now available.
Applications	New to KrisWorld: Travel Forum: Introducing a social networking element to KrisWorld, customers can now share their travel experiences, tips and recommendations with fellow passengers. DK Travel Guides: comprehensive guides to major cities in the world. Live News: Customers can stay connected to the happenings on the ground with news from Channel NewsAsia Flight Path iXplor 2: Improved flight path information allowing customers to view key points of interests, for example, the Taj Mahal, when they are flying over it.

Copyright Photos: Singapore Airlines. The airline has launched its next generation First, Business and Economy Class seats, together with the next generation KrisWorld, the world’s most advanced in-flight entertainment system. They will be available on new Boeing 777-300 ERs over the next two years. Customers travelling on select flights between Singapore and London will be the first to experience the new products from September 2013.

Singapore Airlines: