It's all good news from Singapore Airlines this week. For a start, the carrier's rolling out a new on-board entertainment system, called eX2, which has quite a few features we like. As well as nice new 1280x768 screens, it will also include some PC applications like Media Player and PDF and photo viewers. That means you won't even need your own computer to look at stuff--just plug in your USB stick and read your own documents, listen to your own music or scroll through your own photos.
At the same time, Singapore Airlines must be pretty pleased with itself that its young spin-off Tiger Airways is growing up. The budget carrier that services the Australasian region is 49 percent owned by Singapore Airlines but is already making enough money not to need any cash injections from Mom and Dad. Tiger is even talking about looking for other airlines to acquire.
So that's the week for Singapore Airlines: the mile high club isn't important on planes--plugging in your USB stick is and little Tigers can grow up to be big and strong. They must be smiling over there.
With all the excitement over on-board WiFi announcements here in the United States, it's easy to forget that carriers abroad have already wrapped up their testing of in-flight Internet. More than a couple airlines have had passengers successfully texting their sucker friends "Guess where I am right now?!" Among them are Qantas, Ryanair, Air France, Singapore Airlines and Emirates.
These carriers are using a satellite technology developed by a company called EMS Technologies. Because the system is space- rather than land-based, passengers can use cell phones, PDAs and laptops over the ocean. That's a major plus for carriers like Qantas and Singapore.
While pricing is still, ahem, up in the air, we can't imagine it will be that much. And for a lot of people, EMS's CEO realizes, the cost won't really even be a factor:
If I'm flying from Paris to New York and Air France lets me use my Blackberry in-flight while United Airlines doesn't, which one do you think I'm going to choose?
Singapore Airlines, one of the UK's most popular carriers, announced Saturday that it plans to offer routes from London Heathrow to the US in the near future. The new route will make Singapore the first non-EU or US carrier to serve the newly open skies. The announcement comes without an official launch date because, according to Singapore Airlines, a shortage of take-off spots in Heathrow has created difficulty in scheduling.
We're interested to see how this will affect Delta, Air France and US Airways, who all have recently announced plans for transatlantic service. Singapore Airlines comes with a reputation for excellent customer service: Readers of British paper The Telegraph have consistently voted Singapore Airlines their favorite carrier in its yearly Travel Awards.
In addition to praise from fliers, the airline also comes with a reputation for aviation innovation: Singapore was the first to use the double-decker Airbus A380 on flights to Sydney. The super-jumbo will serve London from Singapore starting in February 2008. It's worth noting that an A380 test flight touched down at JFK in March of this year.
The new Airbus A380 proudly flown by Singapore Airlines last week is a huge aircraft with plenty of room for all kinds of activities. Except one: sex.
If you're thinking of booking the world's first flying double bed, you'll first need a lot of money. And second of all, no desire to have sex. Singapore Airlines has said that if couples using the double suites "engage in inappropriate activity," they'll be politely asked to stop. One of the first couples to fly in the suite thought this seemed a bit unfair since the flight attendants kept bringing champagne.
We agree that it doesn't seem fair, but at the same time, we don't want those kind of noises added to screaming engines and wailing children to make our long-haul flight experience even more painful.
Tomorrow, you could say, is the big day. Singapore Airlines'A380 takes off for Sydney tomorrow, hauling a bunch of passengers who were willing to pay up to six figures for the privilege of being on the first flight. While those prices were beefed up for a charity auction, the cost for one of the sleeper suites--complete with bed and 23-inch TV--is far from cheap. In late November, round-trip fares for a suite from Singapore to Sydney run around $7,400.
If that's too much to spend on a flight on a brand-new aircraft, you could always fly one of the LCCs in the States. Virgin America started a new route today, flying from LAX to Washington, DC on the airline's new Airbus planes. And Skybus is expanding service from its new "base" at Piedmont Triad International Airport. (No new planes here, but it is a new airline.)
It's the second recent victory for the ultra-low cost carrier. After catching flak for canceling service to the West Coast and leaving passengers without alternate flights, Skybus had a hand in knocking JetBlue--and its Airbus fleet--out of Columbus.
One of the hottest budget airlines in the Asia Pacific market at the moment is Singapore-based Tiger Airways, which recently expanded into the Australian market, too. Tiger is a pure-bred low cost carrier, set up expressly for that purpose in 2003, but Singapore Airlines is a 49% stakeholder.
Tiger's routes are largely flown through Singapore, although there is talk of setting up hubs in other Asian countries like the Philippines or South Korea. The airline's other main destinations include Australia, China, Thailand, India and Vietnam. Tiger's recent entry into the Australian market is real headline-grabbing budget stuff: flights as low as A$10 ($9) are on offer. Fares that low are definitely grrrreat.
The debut of the massive AirbusA380 is less than two months away, and there's been plenty of buzz about the 555-passenger plane that's set to fly from Singapore to Sydney on October 25. (And, yes, Singapore Airlinesis auctioning the seats for charity on eBay.)
Besides getting in to scrapes, the plane is at the heart of another pseudo-scandal: Back in July, a mystery buyer picked up one of the jets as a private plane. At the time, all Airbus would say is that the buyer was neither European nor American. Today, Le Figaro says (in French) that the buyer is Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich.
Want to donate to a few good causes and get a trip on the first Airbus A380 to Sydney? Kill two birds with one stone and enter the Singapore Airlinesseat auction for the inaugural flight on its new superjumbo Airbus A380.
The airline announced yesterday that they'll be auctioning off all 555 seats on the first flight and donating proceeds raised to charity - including the Singapore Community Chest;the Sydney Children's Hospital and The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney; and Doctors Without Borders. Auction winners/passengers will also get a personalized ceremonial certificate confirming they were part of the world's first commercial A380 flight.
Interested? Register for notification on auction details here. The flight's date has yet to be decided as they're still waiting on a final delivery date from Airbus.
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by amandak
