Singapore Airlines Preps For Overhaul And Repositioning

<B> Singapore Airlines Preps For Overhaul And Repositioning</B>

By Judy Jacobs

The creation of a new frequent flyer program and the revamp of its stopover program are the latest moves by Singapore Airlines to overhaul its service and reposition itself in the Asian aviation market.

"Difficult times are a good time to strengthen your market," said Huang Cheng Eng, the carrier's senior vice president of marketing and planning.

KrisFlyer, the airline's new frequent flyer program, began last month, after SIA, Cathay Pacific Airways and Malaysia Airlines decided to discontinue Passages, their joint frequent flyer program. In SIA's new program, first class passengers receive 150 percent of actual miles flown, business class passengers receive 125 percent and economy class passengers receive 75 percent through Dec. 31 and 50 percent after that.

Business travelers flying to Singapore will benefit greatly from the program. Those who purchase a roundtrip business class ticket to Singapore from the United States will get a free roundtrip ticket--which requires 15,000 points--between Singapore and Malaysia, Indonesia or Brunei.

In addition to the new frequent flyer program, SIA has relaunched its stopover program. "We want to strengthen the idea of Singapore as a gateway and a hub," Huang said. Travelers flying to Southeast Asia or India on SIA can stopover in Singapore, taking advantage of the program to do business there or rest up on the way there or home.

Prices range from $58 per night for a room at a first class hotel, such as Albert Court or Furama, to $138 for a room at a superior class hotel like the Marriott or Oriental. The stopover package includes free admission to six major Singapore attractions and unlimited rides on the SIA Hop On, a newly inaugurated tour bus. The package also includes discounts on sightseeing tours, car rentals, shopping, dining, entertainment and spa treatments.

The new frequent flyer and stopover programs follow on the heels of major improvements the airline has been making to its first and Raffles class compartments since last fall (<I>BTN,</I> Oct. 5, 1998). "We're retrofitting 37 B747s and will finish this fall. That's when the full impact of what we've done will come," Huang said.

As part of the retrofit, SIA is creating 12 individual compartments with sleeper beds on its Megatop B747s. In its business class, dubbed Raffles class, the carrier is installing new seats with 52-inch pitch--the previous seats were 47-inch--and is redesigning its color scheme. The airline also created an international culinary panel of seven world-famous chefs, food writers and culinary experts to advise it on food trends and help in the creation of new menus. SIA also started serving champagne in economy class.

While the airline upgrades its offerings, it also is refining its route network, due in part to the Asian economic crisis. "Last spring we made adjustments and reallocated capacity. We trimmed down growth in Asia and shifted it to Europe and the U.S.," Huang said.

In addition, SIA "reduced Jakarta service from nine to seven flights per day, and Kuala Lumpur from 11 to nine per day. We decreased the size of the aircraft used on our Thai and Korean routes. At the same time, we increased service to Frankfurt from seven to 11 flights per week and to New York from seven to 10, including three flights to Newark."

By substituting aircraft, SIA is increasing its capacity in the China market. In November, the airline began using B777 aircraft on its daily Shanghai service and one B777 and one A330 to Beijing, a route it had been operating with two A330s.

"In the future we'll focus our efforts on our stronger routes. We want to increase our London service from 17 per week to three per day," Huang said.

At the same time, SIA plans to "introduce a series of tours to get people to travel in the region. Now we offer "Spectacular packages" in Bali, Cebu, Davao, Langkawi, Lombok, Manila and Penang. We'll introduce Thailand in the future," he said. "We're also promoting the new Singapore Exposition, which opened March 4. And we're spending S$1 million (US$576,236) per year on the promotion of meetings and exhibitions in Singapore.