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Singapore Airlines
Introduction Singapore's national carrier and one of the best in the world. Over the last two decades, Singapore Airlines has grown from a regional airline into one of the world's leading passenger and cargo carriers. Today, we have a modern and young fleet of aircraft. Our home base, Changi Airport, is regularly voted the world's best, and serves as our gateway to Asia and beyond. Find out more about Singapore Airlines and our subsidiaries in this section.
History We have come a long way from our humble origins as a small regional airline. Our story began in May 1947, when Malayan Airways first operated a twin-engined Airspeed Consul between Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Penang. Passenger demand grew and so did the fledgling airline. By 1955 it had a fleet of Douglas DC-3s. The creation of the Federation of Malaysia in 1963 prompted two name changes; first to Malaysian Airways and then, three years later, to Malaysia-Singapore Airlines (MSA) in deference to the carrier's joint shareholders, the governments of Malaysia and Singapore. MSA ceased operations in October 1972 and two new airlines, Malaysia Airline System (now called Malaysia Airlines) and Singapore Airlines, were born. At its launch, the new national flag carrier of Singapore had a modest fleet comprising 10 aircraft, a staff of 6,000 and a route network spanning 22 cities in 18 countries. It also had 25 years of experience and boundless ambition. Singapore Airlines immediately began to expand and modernise its fleet, setting standards of service that others could only follow. Far-sighted planning, investment and product innovation propelled its growing reputation and profitability. The little airline from the small island state in Asia became big.
SIA Today ...To a World Class Carrier
Today, SIA is internationally recognised as one of the world's leading
carriers. Singapore Airlines was the pioneer of inflight services such
as free drinks and complimentary headsets. Our route network spans 90
destinations in almost 40 countries and we have a young, modern fleet
of aircraft. But we never forget that we owe our size and commercial success
to our customers.
In addition, SIA added Shenzhen to its network in January 2004, and commenced operations to Nanjing and Ahmedabad this year. SIA will also be the first Airline to operate the world's largest aircraft, the Airbus A380, in the first quarter of 2006.
SIA's Achievement in the year 2004
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January 2004, SIA's new ultra long-range A340-500 joined the fleet, and
on 3 February, the Airline made aviation history when it launched the
world's longest non-stop commercial flight from Singapore to Los Angeles.
The flight from Singapore to Los Angeles takes about 16 hours, with the
return flight to Singapore clocking in at 18.5 hours, offering our customers
greater convenience and saving up to 2 hours in travel time. In June this
year, SIA created another aviation milestone when it launches non-stop
services between Singapore and New York. These flights will take 18 hours
in either direction, shaving more hours off travelling for our customers.