Archive for the 'Singapore' Category

Singapore Completes First “Green Flight”

Published
by
Dan Webb
on February 3, 2010
in Singapore
. 1 Comment

Singapore Airlines announced yesterday that on January 31st, it had completed “the world’s first multi-sector demonstration green flight.” 10 tons of fuel (and 33 tons of carbon emissions) were saved on Flight 11, which flew from Los Angeles to Tokyo and then to Singapore with a Boeing 747-400. The fuel savings represent a six percent reduction in consumption. To put that in perspective, after 17 flights, the 18th is “free” in terms of fuel. Yes, being green is great, but moves like these can also help airline financially – which is a good motivator to start caring about this stuff.

So what did the airline do to save that fuel? These are all options we’ve seen before, like engine washing, using ground power instead of the APU, using a more efficient routing, a continuous descent approach, and a few others, as well.

feb03

Photo Credit: Singapore Airlines.

For those who are very interested in how “green” the industry can become, flights like these are a small, but important step. Long-term solutions will require a concerted effort from airframers, engine manufactures, and firms working on alternative energy sources. But acquiring new aircraft is a big financial commitment for airlines, while many of these solutions attempted/implemented by Singapore and others can be implemented on the existing fleet, and can actually improve airlines’ financial performance.

Singapore Announces A380 Service to Zurich

Published
by
Dan Webb
on January 15, 2010
in Singapore
. 3 Comments

It was reported back in October that Singapore would launch A380 service to Zurich. Yesterday, the airline formally announced that the service will begin on March 28 (it was originally rumored that it would be starting next month), which makes the city Singapore’s seventh A380 destination. That makes Zurich the third European airport to receive regular A380 service, the others being London (Heathrow) and Paris (De Gaulle). The launch of the service is contingent on Zurich being certified for A380 operations. Test flights will be held next week.

jan15

Photo Credit: Singapore Airlines.

At first blush, the addition of the superjumbo makes it appear that the Zurich market is strong, but the schedule adjustment actually results in a small capacity cut. Currently, Zurich has 12 flights a week, all operated by 777-300ER aircraft. SQ345/346 operates daily, while SQ341/342 operates five days a week (Thursday – Monday). With the change, only SQ345/346 will remain, with the 777-300ER being replaced by the A380.

Overall, the adjustments represents a 1.2% decrease in total seats. The number of first class seats will decrease 12.5% (which isn’t exactly a fair comparison as Singapore has its suite product on the A380 and a more traditional seat on the 777-300ER), business seats will be down 16.7%, wile economy capacity will be 2.1% higher.

To be honest, a decrease in flights makes sense, especially when one considers load factors were only about 67%, according to this Business Traveller article from December. So Singapore keeps capacity essentially flat while reducing its total costs. But since the decrease in seats is very minimal, loads won’t improve a whole lot if passenger numbers don’t increase. But one good thing for Singapore here is Swiss’ decision to drop the service, with the final flight in the end of April last year.

Considering the load factor, I wonder why Singapore went with an A380 instead of a 747 on the route, though that fleet is relatively small, and one could strongly argue that the A380 has a superior inflight product. The aforementioned Business Traveller article did mention that “Switzerland has a wealthy customer base for lucrative premium fare tickets.” In addition, a recent CAPA article says that “airlines using the A380 are reporting higher yields and higher load factors, as passenger reaction to the improved product have been so positive,” which makes me think the superior passenger experience of the A380 could be what motivated Singapore to utilize the aircraft for its Zurich flying.