SilkAir to merge into Singapore Airlines

SilkAir to merge into Singapore Airlines after undergoing $100m revamp of cabin products

Singapore Airlines’ regional arm, SilkAir, will undergo a significant upgrading of its cabin products as part of plans to eventually merge with Singapore Airlines (SIA).

This will mean that the SilkAir name and aircraft livery - founded in 1992 - will be phased out in a few years.

The announcement by SIA on Friday morning (May 18) comes a day after the airline announced an almost 150 per cent hike in its full-year profits, with earnings for the 12 months to March 31, 2018, hitting $893 million.

SIA said the SilkAir upgrade programme will comprise an investment of more than $100 million to upgrade aircraft cabins with new lie-flat seats in business class and the installation of seat-back in-flight entertainment systems in both business and economy class.

This will ensure closer product and service consistency across the SIA Group’s full-service network.

In his annual post-results briefing on Friday, SIA’s chief executive Goh Choon Phong said that there is still a demand for “SilkAir-type services, especially to bigger regional cities”.

However, the short-haul regional market is extremely competitive, with budget carriers accounting for more than half of total capacity within South-east Asia. This makes it challenging for SilkAir, he added.

Aircraft cabin upgrades are expected to start in 2020 due to lead times required by seat suppliers, including to complete certification processes.

The actual merger will take place only after a sufficient number of aircraft have been fitted with the new cabin products.

It is not clear how the merger will affect SilkAir staff, especially, and whether jobs could become redundant.

The Straits Times had first reported on a possible merger between the two carriers in August 2017 when part of SilkAir's finance operations went to SIA. It was said then that this would likely pave the way for further consolidation and eventually, a full merger.

The merger follows a similar consolidation between the group's budget carriers. In July 2017, Tigerair was folded into Scoot to drive commercial and operational synergies between the two airlines.

Consistent with ongoing efforts to optimise the SIA Group’s network, there will also be transfers of routes and aircraft between the different airlines in the portfolio, SIA said.

“Singapore Airlines is one year into our three-year transformation programme and today’s announcement is a significant development to provide more growth opportunities and prepare the group for an even stronger future,” said Mr Goh.

He said: “Importantly, it will be positive for our customers. It is another example of the major investment we are making to ensure that our products and services continue to lead the industry across short-, medium- and long-haul routes.”

Mr Goh is expected to shed more light on the merger when he meets journalists and analysts on Friday morning during his annual post-results briefing.

SilkAir now operates a fleet of 11 aircraft from the Airbus A-320 family and 22 Boeing 737-800 and 737 MAX 8 aircraft.

It is currently transitioning to an all-737 fleet, and serves 49 destinations in 16 countries.

SIA also said it expects to grow its operating fleet size to 117 for SIA by March 31 next year, compared with 107 as of end March this year; increase SilkAir's fleet size by one to 33, and Scoot by eight to 48. The size of the operating cargo fleet is expected to remain the same.

This translates to projected capacity growth, in available seat kilometres, of 5 per cent for SIA, 9 per cent for SilkAir and 17 per cent for Scoot for financial year (FY) 2018/2019 compared with the previous financial year.

Group capital expenditure on aircraft is expected to remain fairly stable, at $5.7 billion for FY18/19, $5.9 billion for FY19/20 and $5.8 billion for FY20/21, said SIA.

~News courtesy of Straits Times~

New scanners to check buses entering Tuas Checkpoint

New scanners to check buses entering Tuas Checkpoint

Security for buses entering Singapore through Tuas Checkpoint will be stepped up in a move to fight terrorism, contraband items and stowaways.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) has set up two imaging scanners that all buses will have to go through from the second half of this year.

A controlled trial began earlier this month (April) with officers travelling through the scanners with bus drivers to familiarise them with the new process, according to Assistant Commissioner (AC) Colin Tan who heads the checkpoint.

They will help officers detect modified bus compartments and explosives.

The change is not expected to extend passengers' waiting time, said AC Tan, adding: "Clearances for both bus and passengers will be conducted simultaneously... we will strive to have buses waiting for their passengers."

Currently, officers manually inspect the buses by boarding them and looking out for transgressions after passengers have alighted at the arrival hall.

The scanners will perform another layer of checks.

About 40 officers have been trained to study their X-ray images and to detect possible dangers and contraband items.

During a demonstration on Thursday (April 26), bus drivers entered the scanner through an automatic barrier that lifts after a camera captures the bus's licence number.

The bus then goes through a sensor that detects radioactive materials before moving forward to approach a control panel where the driver presses a button located near an intercom to start the scan.

A green light flashes on, and the driver drives through the scanner. Images are sent to a control room facing the scanners.

AC Tan said that the scanners will help officers conduct more targeted checks.

He added: "Some buses have modified compartments that can be hard to detect. With the X-ray images, they can know where to focus their attention." The ICA is studying plans to implement bus scanners at Woodlands checkpoint but they may take on a different form due to space constraints.

~Courtesy of Straits Times~

Singapore-KL route is world's busiest global air link

Singapore-KL route is world's busiest global air link

The Singapore-Kuala Lumpur route is the world's busiest international air link, with seven airlines that operate up to 84 flights a day.

In second place is Hong Kong-Taipei, followed by Singapore-Jakarta.

The ranking by industry consultancy OAG, released on Thursday, is based on the number of flights between two cities in the 12 months to the end of February this year.

The Singapore-KL connection topped OAG's busiest international routes ranking with 30,537 flights, compared with 28,887 flights for Hong Kong-Taipei and 27,304 flights for Singapore-Jakarta.

While the Singapore-KL sector was the busiest for Changi Airport based on the number of flights operated, more people flew between Singapore and Jakarta during the same 12 months.

Total passenger traffic on the route was more than 4.6 million, compared with about four million for Singapore-KL.

Mr Mayur Patel, OAG's regional sales director for Japan and the Asia-Pacific, noted that 14 of the world's 20 busiest routes, including eight of the top 10, are between Asian cities.

"Given the robust expansion of air passenger travel across the Asia-Pacific and the fierce competition between carriers in the region, it is unsurprising," he said on Thursday.

Turning to airports, OAG noted that Hong Kong was the busiest Asian airport hub, featuring in six of the top 20 routes while Changi Airport featured in four. Mr Patel said: "While this intense level of competition offers impressive flight frequencies and competitive prices for consumers, it adds pressure to the operating costs and on-time performance of carriers, and may prove unsustainable over time."

Other industry experts noted that the expansion of low-cost carriers in Asia has significantly boosted the number of air services between Asian cities, including Singapore-Kuala Lumpur and Singapore-Jakarta.

Number of passengers flying the Singapore-KL route in the 12 months to end-February this year.

Mr Brendan Sobie from the Centre for Aviation noted in a recent report that low-cost carriers in Singapore now operate a fleet of 60 aircraft - 44 from the Airbus 320 family and 16 Boeing 787s.

In 2012, they had just 37 planes in total.

Low-cost carriers currently account for about a third of the total passenger traffic at Changi Airport.

There are now 18 such airlines offering both short-and long-haul flights to and from Singapore, said Mr Sobie.

~Courtesy of Straits Times~