The History of Singapore Airlines



We have come a long way from our humble origins as a small regional airline. Our story began in May 1947, when Malayan Airways first operated a twin-engined Airspeed Consul between Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Penang. Passenger demand grew and so did the fledgling airline. By 1955 it had a fleet of Douglas DC-3s. The creation of the Federation of Malaysia in 1963 prompted two name changes; first to Malaysian Airways and then, three years later, to Malaysia-Singapore Airlines (MSA) in deference to the carrier's joint shareholders, the governments of Malaysia and Singapore.

Our History
From Humble Beginnings...

MSA ceased operations in October 1972 and two new airlines, Malaysia Airline System (now called Malaysia Airlines) and Singapore Airlines, were born. At its launch, the new national flag carrier of Singapore had a modest fleet comprising 10 aircraft, a staff of 6,000 and a route network spanning 22 cities in 18 countries. It also had 25 years of experience and boundless ambition. Singapore Airlines immediately began to expand and modernise its fleet, setting standards of service that others could only follow. Far-sighted planning, investment and product innovation propelled its growing reputation and profitability. The little airline from the small island state in Asia became big.

SIA Today
...To a World Class Carrier Today, SIA is internationally recognised as one of the world's leading carriers. Singapore Airlines was the pioneer of inflight services such as free drinks and complimentary headsets. Our route network spans 89 destinations in almost 40 countries and we have a young, modern fleet of aircraft. But we never forget that we owe our size and commercial success to our customers.

In January 2004, SIA's new ultra long-range A340-500, dubbed the A345LeaderShip, joined the fleet, and on 3 February, the Airline made aviation history when it launched the world's longest non-stop commercial flight from Singapore to Los Angeles. The flight from Singapore to Los Angeles takes about 16 hours, with the return flight to Singapore clocking in at 18.5 hours, offering our customers greater convenience and saving upto 2 hours in travel time. Come June this year, SIA will create another aviation milestone when it launches non-stop services betwen Singapore and New York. These flights will take 18 hours in either direction, shaving more hours off travelling for our customers.

In addition, SIA added Shenzhen to its network in January 2004, and looking forward, will commence operations to Nanjing later this year.

SIA will also be the first Airline to operate the world's largest aircraft, the Airbus A380, in the first quarter of 2006.