Singapore Airlines (SIA or SQ) is the flag carrier of Singapore with its hub located at Changi Airport. The airline is ranked as a 5-star airline[4] and has been ranked as the world's best airline by Skytrax five times.[5] Singapore Airlines operates a variety of Airbus and Boeing aircraft, namely the Airbus A350-900, Airbus A380, Boeing 737 MAX 8, Boeing 747-400 Freighter, Boeing 777-300ER and Boeing 787-10. The airline has been a member of Star Alliance since April 2000.
Singapore Airlines Group has more than 20 subsidiaries, including numerous airline-related subsidiaries. SIA Engineering Company handles maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) business across nine countries with a portfolio of 27 joint ventures including with Boeing and Rolls-Royce. Singapore Airlines Cargo operates SIA's freighter fleet and manages the cargo-hold capacity in SIA's passenger aircraft.[6] Scoot, a wholly owned subsidiary, operates as a low-cost carrier. The airline is also notable for highlighting the Singapore Girl as its central figure in the corporate branding segment and not significantly changing its livery throughout its history.[7]
Singapore Airlines was the first to put the Airbus A380—the world's largest passenger aircraft—as well as the Boeing 787-10 into service, and is the first operator of the ultra-long-range (ULR) version of the Airbus A350-900. It ranks amongst the top 15 carriers worldwide in terms of revenue passenger kilometres[8] and is ranked tenth in the world for international passengers carried.[9] Singapore Airlines was voted as the Skytrax World's Best Airline Cabin Crew 2019.[10] The airline has also won the second and fourth positions as the World's Best Airlines[11] and World's Cleanest Airlines respectively in 2019.[12] In 2023, the airline for the fifth time took the prize of "Best Airline" as well as the "Best First Class Airline" by Skytrax.[13]
On 22 January 2026, Fortune magazine published the annual World’s Most Admired Companies with Singapore Airlines ranked 24th. In the airline category, Singapore Airlines was the world's most admired airline, followed by Delta Air Lines, and then KLM, United Airlines, and Lufthansa.[14]
History
Corporate affairs
Singapore Airlines is majority-owned by the Singapore government's investment and holding company Temasek Holdings, which holds 55% of voting stock as of 31 March 2020.[15]
Nevertheless, while the government holds a golden share via the country's Ministry of Finance, it stressed its non-interference in the management of the company, a point emphasised by Lee Kuan Yew when he said Singapore Changi Airport's front-runner status as an aviation hub is more important than SIA.[16] However, he was personally involved in easing tensions between the company and its pilots in the early 2000s,[17] warned the airline to cut costs, and made public his advice to the airline to divest from its subsidiary companies.[18]
Singapore Airlines is headquartered at Airline House,[19]
Destinations
Singapore Airlines flies on five continents from its primary hub in Singapore.
After the Asian financial crisis in 1997, Singapore Airlines discontinued its routes to Berlin, Darwin, Cairns, Hangzhou, Kagoshima, and Sendai. Toronto was discontinued earlier, in 1992, due to a petition from Air Canada.[45] During the SARS outbreak in 2003–04, Singapore Airlines ceased flights to Brussels, Chicago, Las Vegas, Hiroshima, Kaohsiung, Madrid, Mauritius, Shenzhen, Surabaya, and Vienna.[46] Singapore Airlines discontinued flights to Vancouver and Amritsar in 2009,[47] and São Paulo in 2016.[48]
Fleet
Singapore Airlines historically operated an almost entirely widebody fleet. Following its merger with SilkAir, it reintroduced the Boeing 737 to mainline service in March 2021. The airline also operates Boeing 747-400F and Boeing 777F freighters. As of, there were 163 aircraft registered in the Singapore Airlines fleet, comprising 151 passenger aircraft and 12 freighters.[122]
Services
Cabins
Singapore Airlines offers five classes of service – Suites, first class, business class, premium economy class, and economy class. Major upgrades to its cabin and in-flight service were announced on 17 October 2006,[123] constituting the first major overhaul in over eight years and costing the airline approximately S$570 million.[124] Initially planned for the Airbus A380-800's introduction into service in 2006, and subsequently on the Boeing 777-300ER, the postponement of the first A380-800 delivery meant it had to be introduced with the launch of the first Boeing 777-300ER with the airline on 5 December 2006 between Singapore and Paris.[125][126]
On 9 July 2013, Singapore Airlines, in collaboration with design firms James Park Associates and DesignworksUSA, released new cabin products for the first, business, and economy classes.
Award and recognition
On 24 June 2024, Singapore Airlines was voted 2024 Best Airline in the World by Skytrax for the second consecutive time, having won the same award in 2023. Apart for winning the best airline, Singapore Airlines also scooped the top awards for Best Cabin Staff and Best First Class in World. They also won the Best Airline in Asia in the same award ceremony.[158]
On 29 January 2025, SIA was named the top airline, securing the 28th position on Fortune's list of the world’s most admired companies.[159][160]
Controversies
In February 2019, TechCrunch reported that the Singapore Airlines mobile app in the iOS App Store was using session-replay functionality to record users' activities and send the data to Israeli firm Glassbox without the users' informed consent, compromising users' privacy and contravening the rules of the iOS App Store.[161][162]
Accidents and incidents
Singapore Airlines has experienced the following incidents and accidents:
- 13 July 1982 – A Boeing 747 operating as Singapore Airlines flight SQ21A between Singapore and Melbourne flew into volcanic ash from erupting Galunggung volcano and experienced multiple engine failures. A two-engine emergency landing was made at Jakarta and all four engines were replaced.[163][164]
- 26 March 1991 – Singapore Airlines Flight 117, an Airbus A310-300 registered as 9V-STP, was hijacked by militants en route from Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport to Singapore Changi International Airport, where it was stormed by the Singapore Special Operations Force. All hijackers were killed in the operation, with no fatalities amongst the passengers and crew.[165]
- 21 July 1997 – A
See also
- List of airlines of Singapore
- Transport in Singapore
Bibliography
External links
References
- Singapore Airlines on ch-aviation ch-aviation, retrieved 9 November 2023^
- Our Portfolio TEMASEK, March 31, 2025, retrieved January 9, 2026^
- Annual Report FY2023/24 Singapore Airlines, retrieved 16 May 2024^