Singapore Upgrades, Adds Air Services

<B> Singapore Upgrades, Adds Air Services</B>

By Robert Selwitz

Singapore's Changi Airport, widely regarded as one of Southeast Asia's most critical change-of-plane hubs, is easing passengers' lengthy hang-around times by providing a moderately priced in-terminal respite at the 56-room Transit Hotel.

For about $33 single occupancy ($37 double) per six-hour jaunt, business travelers can relax in air-conditioned rooms with televisions and complimentary tea and coffee machines. Laundry services are available upon request.

Also in the terminal is a fitness center--where use of the shower and gym costs roughly $6--and a business center with workstations, copiers, fax/telex machines and conference rooms. Secretarial services are available and a "Cybertrek" Internet center also is offered.

Meanwhile, on June 2, Singapore's regional carrier, SilkAir, launched its first service to India. The new twice-weekly flights to Trivandrum, the capital of the southern state of Kerala, has expanded SilkAir's route network to 21 cities in nine countries and given it a foothold in a nation that is rapidly developing its economic infrastructure.

What began in 1989 as an outgrowth of Singapore Airlines' tour wholesale division, with a single MD-87 serving three Thai and two Malaysian destinations, now has expanded to more than 100 scheduled weekly flights. As SilkAir developed, regional business destinations were added to the once leisure-heavy network, and today the airline flies to Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia and the Philippines. SilkAir's fleet now consists of three A320s, two B737s and two F70s.