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Profile
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.
Our History From Humble Beginnings
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 89 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 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. Come June this year, SIA
will create 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. In addition, SIA added
Shenzhen to its network in January 2004, and commenced operations
to Nanjing in March 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.
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