Tag: SQ

The Singapore Girl: From An Experiment To An Icon

Singapore’s national carrier was established in 1972 following a division of its predecessor, Malaysia-Singapore Airlines (MSA) into two national carriers – Malaysian Airline System (now Malaysia Airlines) and Singapore Airlines (SIA).

In the early years, Singapore was a small player in the international airline market as it had no domestic market to fall back on. To stand out, SIA created a marketing concept that focused on its inflight services to introduce the new airline to the rest of the world.

THE POWER OF AN ICON

Dressed in her distinct sarong kebaya created by renowned French designer Pierre Balmain in 1968, the Singapore Girl was created as the symbol of SIA’s inflight services. Using real stewardesses as the centerpiece of their campaigns, the Singapore Girl has appeared in SIA’s advertising efforts for over 40 years.

The Singapore Girl has been used in advertisements for over 40 years.

While other airlines focused on their hardware and technical features, SIA took the soft approach. “SIA girls have been known to be graceful, charming and caring on board. Our passengers can also identify with them because these are the very girls who serve them on board,” said Lily Chan, former advertising and promotions manager of SIA.

The Singapore Girl represents SIA’s inflight services.

“We wanted to preserve the genuine warmth and charm of the girls,” added Ian Batey, founder of Batey Ads, the agency that conceptualised the Singapore Girl. “What you experience on the screen, hopefully you would experience on the plane.”

The use of the Singapore Girl as the image of SIA was not without its skeptics. “When we went to Europe with the Singapore Girl campaign, they bombed our campaign saying that it wasn’t going to get us anywhere,” said Mr Batey. Mdm Chan added that some of the comments she received were that “the advertisements were too abstract to fathom.”

The Singapore Girl is seen as a traveller of the world.

However, SIA proved their critics wrong through the consistency of its Singapore Girl branding. The iconic image has become synonymous with what SIA has to offer. “What has been ever present has always been the Singapore Girl, and she again has embodied the softer aspects of our service, which ultimately to us is a major difference maker,” said Mervin Tan, Senior Vice President of SIA’s Cabin Crew Division.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

July 28, 2015
Indonesian Student Arrested For Sending Bomb Threats To SIA

JAKARTA — Jakarta Police today (July 8) said they had arrested a 21-year-old male student from a private university in Banten who had sent a bomb threat to Singapore Airlines, causing flight delays.

Ilham, a senior college student reportedly majoring in information technology, was apprehended yesterday at his home in the Baleria housing complex in Tangerang, Banten after sending an email containing a bomb threat to Singapore Airlines on July 1.

“Because of the terror, there were three flights (from Singapore’s Changi International Airport), delayed for a while,” said Brigadier General Victor Edison Simanjuntak, chief of Jakarta Police’s economic crime unit, today.

According to Brig Gen Victor, Singaporean authorities tracked the source of the email and contacted the Indonesian police force.

The information technology and cybercrime unit of the National Police conducted an investigation that led to Ilham’s arrest.

“We are still investigating his motives,” Brig Gen Victor said.

The police intend to charge Ilham with article 335 of the criminal code and article 45 of the 2008 Law on Information and Electronic Transactions. The student faces a maximum ten years’ imprisonment.

When contacted, Singapore Airlines told TODAY: “As the matter is the subject of an ongoing police investigation, we are unable to provide further details.”

Source: www.todayonline.com

July 9, 2015
SIA Ordered To Pay Indian Customer S$735 In Compensation For Downgrading Ticket Class

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has been ordered by an Indian consumer protection council to compensate a businessman 35,000 rupees (S$735) for downgrading his ticket from business class to economy without prior notice.

According to a report in New Indian Express, the businessman, Mr GVK Reddy, had flown on flight SQ528 from Singapore to Chennai on Apr 19, 2011. However, he was told at the check-in counter that his business-class seat had been downgraded to economy class. As compensation, the airline gave him a S$600 voucher – the difference in the classes’ ticket price.

Mr Reddy protested but had no choice but to take the seat offered by the airline, the report said. He later filed a legal notice with the airline seeking compensation of more than S$104,000 for costs including damages, deficiency of service, and causing him mental agony and pain.

In a written reply, SIA argued that Mr Reddy was the last person to make a booking for a business class seat and was also the last to arrive for check-in, by which time, the business-class tickets were overbooked. The ticket conditions also make it clear to passengers that they may not be able to travel in their chosen class due to overbooking, the report quoted the airline as saying.

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum of South Chennai noted that the downgrade, without prior notification, “clearly amounted to a deficiency in service”, the report said.

It ordered SIA to pay the customer 30,000 rupees (S$630) as compensation for mental agony and hardship, and to pay 5,000 rupees (S$105) for the cost of the proceedings within six weeks, the report said.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

June 23, 2015
SIA Flight From Mumbai Makes Emergency Landing At KLIA

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia: A Singapore Airlines (SIA) aircraft, flight 425, made an emergency landing at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), Sepang, after encountering a technical problem.

A Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) spokesman said the Boeing 777-200 aircraft had departed from Mumbai, India at 8.44am and expected to arrive in Singapore at 4.44pm, made the emergency landing at KLIA at 4.05pm.

“The plane landed safely and all its passengers and crew were also reported to be safe, with no injury sustained,” he said when contacted.

The spokesman said the cause of the incident was still being investigated.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

June 22, 2015
SIA Loses Out To Qatar Airways As Best Airlines
The Singapore Airlines (SIA) was named the world’s second best at the Paris Airshow on Tuesday (Jun 16). The award was given out by Skytrax, a consultancy and reviews site.

The Airline of the Year award was given to Qatar Airways. SIA gained one spot from last year to be ranked second, coming in ahead of last year’s winner, Cathay Pacific Airways.

SIA also clinched other awards. It was voted Best Business Class Airline overall, as well as Best First Class Seats. Additionally, SIA’s First and Economy Class categories both made it to the second spot on their respective lists.

The cabins of Singapore’s national carrier were rated the second cleanest in the world behind EVA Air, while its cabin staff were named third best behind Garuda Indonesia and Cathay Pacific.

Here are the world’s top 10 airlines in 2014, according to Skytrax:
1. Qatar Airways
2. Singapore Airlines
3. Cathay Pacific Airways
4. Turkish Airlines
5. Emirates
6. Etihad Airways
7. ANA All Nippon Airways
8. Garuda Indonesia
9. EVA Air
10. Qantas Airways
11. Asiana Airlines
12. Lufthansa
13. Austrian
14. Swiss Internationall Air Lines
15. Air France
16. Virgin Australia
17. Air New Zealand
18. Dragonair
19. Thai Airways
20. British Airways
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com
June 19, 2015