SILKAIR

'SilkAir (Singapore) Private Limited' is an airline based in Singapore. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore Airlines and operates scheduled passenger services from Singapore to 25 cities in Southeast Asia, South Asia and China. As the regional wing of Singapore Airlines, it serves 25 out of 49 short haul destinations in the Singapore Airlines group network, and flew 1.56 million passengers in 2006. It made a profit of S$30 million, as turnover rose 20.4% to $415 million.^[1]

Contents

History

SilkAir 185

Destinations

Fleet

Services

Cabins

Business Class

Economy Class

In-flight

Dining

Entertainment

Codeshare partners

External links

References

History

The airline had its roots as a regional air charter company in the form of Tradewinds Charters, formed in 1976, and using planes predominantly leased from parent Singapore Airlines serving leisure destinations. Scheduled services were introduced as Tradewinds Airlines on 21 February 1989 when it leased McDonnell Douglas MD-87 airplanes for services to six destinations: Bandar Seri Begawan, Pattaya, Phuket, Hat Yai and Kuantan from Singapore's Changi Airport and Tioman from Singapore's Seletar Airport. As the carrier matured, regional business destinations such as Jakarta, Phnom Penh and Yangon were added to its network, thereby broadening the airline's appeal beyond the holiday maker to include the business traveller.

A major marketing overhaul was started in 1991, culminating on the 1 April 1992 by giving the airline its present name and logo as a new corporate identity ^[2]. The rebranded airline utilised up to 6 of the new Boeing 737-300s introduced just a year earlier. The mid-1990s saw two Airbus A310-200 aircraft in use and the expansion of services to India and mainland China. It was the first Asian carrier to offer handheld portable video-on-demand (VOD) inflight entertainment in the form of the ''DigEplayer'' 5500, available on flights to China and India.

SilkAir 185

★ On 19 December, 1997, SilkAir Flight 185, operated by a Boeing 737-300 and piloted by Captain Tsu Way Ming, plunged into the Musi River in Sumatra during a routine flight from Jakarta to Singapore, killing all 104 people on board. As of 2007, officials have been unable to find any conclusive cause.

Destinations

Fleet

SilkAir began operations with leased McDonnell Douglas MD-87 aircraft in 1989, before investing in its own fleet of six Boeing 737-300s, the first of which began operations in 1991. It operated two Airbus A310-200s for a brief period from 1993 to 1995 before they were transferred to Singapore Airlines, and two Fokker F70 from 1995 to 2000. It began replacing its Boeing fleet with Airbus aircraft when the first Airbus A320-200 arrived in 1998, and retired all Boeing aircraft a year later.
Today, the SilkAir fleet, with an average of 4.5 years in operation, consists of the following aircraft ^[3]:

'SilkAir Fleet'

Aircraft	Number	Registration	Capacity	Routes
Airbus A319-132	4	9V-SBA - 9V-SBD	118 (12J/106Y)	Short Haul
Airbus A319-132	1	9V-SBE	120 (8J/112Y)	Short Haul
Airbus A320-232	5	9V-SLB - 9V-SLF	142 (16J/126Y)	Short Haul
Airbus A320-233	3 (2 on order)	9V-SLG - 9V-SLI	142 (16J/126Y)144 (12J/132Y)	Short Haul

On 20 December 2006, SilkAir signed an agreement to purchase 11 Airbus A320-200 aircraft with 9 more on option. These aircraft will be delivered between 2009-2012 ^[4].

Services

Cabins

There are only two class of cabins available on all flights of SilkAir, Business and Economy Class.

Business Class

Business class cabins are available on all flights of SilkAir. The business class cabins offer a seat pitch of 40 inches, and legroom of 19.3 inches.

Economy Class

All economy class cabins have a seat pitch of 32 inches and legroom of 11 inches.

In-flight

Dining

SilkAir offers oriental and western menus which emphasis on flavours of the region. Local delights such as Hainanese chicken rice, laksa, mee siam and mee rebus are available at selected flights.

Entertainment

SilkAir uses ''DigEplayer'', which is a handheld device, as their in-flight entertainment. Interested passengers who are travelling on Economy Class in selected flights, will have to rent the DigEplayer onboard for a fee of S$15. DigEplayers are complimentary for all Business Class passengers flying on selected routes.
The selected routes which offer the DigEplayer are:

★ Singapore to/from China (Xiamen, Chengdu, ChongQing, Kunming, Shenzhen)

★ Singapore to/from India (Trivandrum, Kochi)

★ Singapore to/from Philippines (Cebu, Davao)

★ Singapore to/from Indonesia (Manado)

Codeshare partners

★ Singapore Airlines

★ Malaysia Airlines

★ Garuda Indonesia

External links

★ SilkAir Website

★ Silkair Fleet Detail

★ Singapore Airlines

References

1. SilkAir passenger numbers up 25%
2. SilkAir website - New corporate identity
3. SilkAir fleet
4. SilkAir website - Airbus orders