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Aviation History
1974
1974 - 1628.PDF
488 AIR TRANSPORT group of 15 South-East Asian airlines and that passengers regarded cabin service as the most important factor in selecting an airline. Singapore Airlines advances several reasons for its passenger appeal. Among the most telling is the fact that they carry more cabin crew on their 747s than do other airlines—SIA carries 18; Pan American, for example, carries 13. The fact that the first language of Singapore recruits is English is an advantage. Again, the staff are young and keen (the cabin staff doubled in number between January and October 1973) and perhaps less inclined to brashness than older hands in older air lines. But winsome smiles are not enough: training is all- important. SIA has 747 and 707 cabin mock-ups, built as cheaply as possible with the minimum of expensive furnishing and equipment installed. Stewards and stewardesses undergo a two-month, six-day-week training course, which will include extensive escape-slide and ditching training when the necessary mock-ups are com plete. The escape-slide trainer simply comprises two representative doors, one at 707 height and one at 747 height. A monthly "complaints and compliments" report, summarising the passengers' reactions to the cabin service, goes to the managing director. The airline claims to have learned from the mistakes of others in introducing the 747. SIA -shied away from underfloor galleys as being too slow and too complex. However, although the first two 747s were arranged for 349 passengers (24 first-class, 325 economy) the third and fourth will carry 401 (30 and 371) with six instead of eight galleys, to make the 747s as productive as those of other airlines. The first two aircraft will be converted to 401-seaters. Singapore Airlines co-operates closely with the Singa pore Tourist Promotion Board. Joint advertising campaigns on British, Australian and Japanese television promote Singapore as a tourist attraction and Singapore Airlines as the best way to get there. A Singapore Stopover package is offered, including cut-price hotels and shopping. Numerous excursion and weekend fares are offered, particularly on tourist sectors such as those within South- East Asia. Singapore-London advance-purchase excursion fares were introduced when the Singapore charter airline Saber Air went into liquidation. Most of SIA's discount fares are of the Apex type rather than advance-booking charters; however, negotiations are taking place with British Airways on possible part-charters on Singapore- London. SIA is financing a hotel on the island of Sentosa, just off Singapore, which is being developed as a holiday resort. The hotel will cater for the Singapore Stopovers and similar traffic. Singapore Airlines aims its marketing efforts at the businessman or the businessman on holiday. It is estimated that around half SIA's passengers have made five round trips by air in the previous two years and 20 per cent were specifically recommended to fly SIA. Company travel offices, as sources of high-yield traffic, are prime targets. SIA claims that the commissions it offers to travel agents are lower than those offered by its rivals and that it sells its quality instead. Reports that Australian travel agents were receiving 18 per cent commission are firmly denied, but commissions are not significantly lower than the competitions. SIA has 50 offices worldwide, of which 25 are on route. The airline is extending the Kriscom com puter reservations system to link with its offices and with travel agents in Singapore. Singapore Airlines operates three 747s with four on order, ten 707s, with one on order, and five 737s. There is a dense South-East Asian domestic pattern serving Singapore's neighbours—all are out-and-return routes with the exception of a Singapore - Kuala Lumpur - Hong Kong triangle which is operated in pool with MAS. The main long-haul route is London. - Melbourne/Sydney, FLIGHT International, 17 October 1974 pooled by SIA, British Airways and Qantas. As can be seen from the map, SIA serves several sets of destinations . on the long-haul route. Route development is inhibited by the fact that the Singapore Government can only offer one stop to foreign airlines in traffic negotiations, but it is likely that some destinations will be added. Seoul may be served, starting next year. SIA hopes to gain traffic rights into Bali, a tourist-rich market: Qantas, Pan American and Thai International already use Bali and it seems unlikely that the Indonesian Government's efforts to give Garuda a monopoly on Jakarta-Bali will succeed. Increased capacity is, however, a more pressing object in South-East Asia. SIA estimates annual traffic growth in the region at 20 per cent and the effect of fuel price rises has been minimal. More significant has been the Japanese tightening of foreign exchange controls in the face of a balance-of-payments problem—but civil unrest in Thailand and a dispute with Taiwan have diverted Japanese tourism to Singapore. I SIA plans to introduce larger aircraft in South-East Asia. As the 747s take over SIA's long-haul routes the 707s they replace will be transferred to the South-East Asian routes. The thinnest of these routes, Singapore^ i Saigon, is now taking three 737 services weekly, but when services on a given route rise to ten 737s weekly SIA considers that the time is ripe to introduce the 707. The i Singapore-Bangkok route is already served by two 707s and a 737 daily, but frequency of service is considered im portant and 747 services in this region are some way off. The 707 will gradually replace the 737s and the smaller aircraft is likely to leave the SIA inventory first, although , not before 1977. SIA has only good to say of the 737, but it is too small for the routes the airline operates. The ' 707 in any case is not seen as the ultimate South-East Asian aircraft—its range is too long for best economics on many routes—but more may be bought if the purchase ' of a new type seems inopportune. , The airline is considering its future fleet and has not reached the type-evaluation stage. A single type will replace the 707 and 737 in South-East Asia, and this will demand some restructuring of the fleet. The new type could be the TriStar, the DC-10, the A300B4 or the 727- , 200B. The selection of either big trijet might mean lower frequencies, but the wide-bodies have greater passenger appeal. The extended-range 727-200B, with the 727-300 wing, landing gear and powerplant. might solve the
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