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SIA accepts maiden A350 and raises stake in Tigerair to 95.6%
March 4th 2016
On Wednesday, Singapore Airlines (SIA) became an operator of the A350XWB when it accepted delivery of its first airplane of the type in Toulouse. Read More » SIA has 67-on-order A350s and will be the fifth airline to accept the XWB after Qatar Airways, Vietnam Airlines, Finnair and LATAM.
Configured with business, premium economy and economy cabins, the 263-seat aircraft initially will be flown to Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta for crew familiarisation and then be assigned, in May, to the daily Singapore-Amsterdam service and a three times a week route to Dusseldorf from July 21.
SIA also has seven A350LRs on order, which will allow it to resume nonstop flights to the U.S. from 2018. With a Maximum Take Off Weight of 280 tonnes, the LR will have a range of up to 8,700 nautical miles.
Separately, the SIA Group, which has been in the process of acquiring full control of Tigerair so it can take it private, met the threshold for complete acquisition of the budget carrier last Friday. The airline group now owns, controls or has agreed to acquire 95.6% of Tigerair, CEO, Goh Choon Phong, said in Toulouse on Wednesday.
When all formalities are completed, the airlines fully owned by the SIA Group will be SIA, SilkAir, Long haul LCC Scoot and Tigerair. “With all these four vehicles, we have basically covered the full spectrum of travel segments,” said Goh. “We will be able to provide the right vehicle for anyone on any sort of budget or destination.” Passengers will, “on a gradual basis”, be able to interline on all four carriers.
Addressing the issue of potential brand dilution, Goh said the SIA Group has “to make sure customers understand they are connecting onto a budget product and what to expect from that. That’s education that we would have to do”,” he said.
