Silk Air Airlines

  About SilkAir

SilkAir (Singapore) Private Limited, traded as SilkAir, is a regional airline which has its headquarters in the Airline House in Singapore. The airline previously had its headquarters in the fifth story of the SIA Superhub in Singapore. SilkAir is a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines which is wholly owned and operated by its parent company. It has scheduled passenger services scheduled from the hub in Singapore to about 38 cities across 14 countries in the Southeast Asian, East Asian, the Indian Subcontinent and Australia. It portrays the role of the regional wing to Singapore Airlines and mainly serves short-haul and medium-haul destinations that fall under the Singapore Airlines Group network. In the year 2015, the airline carried about 3.5 million passengers and recorded a whopping operating profit of USD 40.8 million. As of 2016, the airline's operations were handed over to Mr Leslie Thng, who was appointed as the new Chief Executive after Mr Foo Chai Woo. In 2017, the airline once again registered a profit as it raked in revenue of USD 990.3 million, which was an increase of 2.5 per cent in comparison to the previous year.

The profit earned in the said year reached an all-time high for the regional carrier as it recorded USD 100.8 million, a staggering spike of 11.3 percent against the previous year. In 2018, Singapore Airlines stated that its subsidiary SilkAir's fleet would be undergoing a massive cabin product upgrade, starting 2020, before being completely merged with the parent company. As a move to move ahead with the merger, SilkAir's official website was discontinued while a dedicated section of SilkAir was integrated into Singapore Airlines' website the following year. SilkAir was founded in 1989 under the name Tradewinds Charter. It's then-parent company, a regional air-charter Tradewinds Charters, was formed in 1975 which leased planes from the parent company Singapore Airlines to serve leisure destinations. By 1989, the airline changed to Tradewinds Airlines and incorporated scheduled flight services. It leased a McDonnell Douglas MD-87 aircraft to serve five of its destinations such as Phuket, Kuantan, Pattaya and Hat Yai from Singapore's Changi International Airport. In contrast, its fifth destination Tioman had services from the city's Seletar Airport.

Over the years, Singapore Airlines' regional carrier expanded tremendously with various regional destinations such as Yangon, Jakarta and Phnom Penh being added to its international route. This enabled the expansion and broadening of the airline's presence from a leisure carrier to an airline perfect for a business traveller as well. A marketing overhaul was conducted in 1991, which was followed by some rebranding in 1992. SilkAir received its present name along with a new company logo and a corporate identity. The brand-new SilkAir also utilised about six new Boeing 737-300s which were introduced in the previous year. By the mid-1990s, the airline accommodated two Airbus A310-200s in its fleet as a means to expand its services to India and parts of Mainland China. It became the first-ever Asian carrier to provide handheld portable video-on-demand entertainment system in-flight. It was provided in the form of a DigEplayer 5500 which was available on flights of certain select countries and destinations.

In 2017, SilkAir also took over services of Scoot to Yangon. The transfer of destination helped SilkAir greatly as it boosted operations with 15 non-stop flight services accommodated in a week. In 2017, the airline further launched its flight to Hiroshima, becoming its first Japanese destination to join the SilkAir network. Further, the airline announced in 2018 that it would be transferring about 17 routes to its sister concern, Scoot, which included cities such as Wuhan, Chiang Mai, Luang Prabang, Yogyakarta and Kota Kinabalu.

Fleet size of SilkAir

SilkAir's current fleet size stands at 33 with eight Airbus A320-200s, two Airbus A319-100s, 17 Boeing 787-800s and six Boeing 737 MAX 8. They are yet to receive orders of 31 Boeing 737 MAX 8s. SilkAir's operations commenced with two McDonnell Douglas MD-87s that was leased from the airline's parent company, in 1989. Eventually, in the 1990s, the airline started investing in its fleet and started the same by ordering six Boeing 737-300s. The airline operated two Airbus A310-200s that was used in service between 1993 and 1995. The Boeing aircraft was eventually transferred to Singapore Airlines. Similarly, the airline also operated two Fokker 70s between 1995 and 2000. Gradually, the airline started replacing its fleet comprising of Boeing with Airbus aircraft. They brought in their first Airbus A320-200 in 1998.

By 1999, the airline replaced its Boeing fleet completely and received much of its Airbus fleet. Its A319 is currently being used for services on specific routes in the Southeast Asian space along with some Indian cities. The larger A320 aircraft is predominantly utilised for major routes of the airlines. After a decade long of Airbus fleet, the airline signed a letter of intent in 2012 with Boeing to purchase 68 aircraft. The agreement comprised of a firm order of 23 Boeing 737-800s and 31 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft while they acquired purchase rights for 14 other aircraft. The airline's 737 aircraft is being used to replace the older A320 models. In 2014, SilkAir received its first Boeing 737-800 from the deal, and in 2017, it received delivery of its first Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.

Baggage Allowance

SilkAir Airlines' free checked baggage allowance depending on the type of ticket as well as the cabin class. The airline doesn't have a country-specific rule for baggage allowance but instead holds a universal rule in terms of the weight and dimensions of the baggage. The first-class travellers are allowed to carry baggage that should weigh no more than 50 kg. Business-class and premium economy class passengers are allowed to carry about 40 kg, and 35 kg checked baggage, respectively. Passengers travelling via SilkAir in the economy Flexi, standard and lite travellers can carry 35 kg, 30 kg and 30 kg, respectively. The passenger must keep a check on their baggage weight or purchase extra baggage if needed. Prior purchases are essential as it would smoothen the process of check-in baggage. Pre-purchasing of extra baggage will get passengers some additional discounts. The baggage allowance policy does change depending on the airline's frequent flyer programmes and the passengers who are members of a specific package.

In-flight services

As a regional carrier, SilkAir's in-flight services are quite decent as they provide the necessary facilities for passengers. These include help with baggage to be placed in the overhead bins, comfortable seats with recline, available legroom, in-flight meal services and in-flight entertainment systems. These might vary depending on the route and duration of the journey that the passenger has opted for.

Popular routes and top cities for SilkAir

SilkAir was predominantly acquired to cater to regional domestic route and international route networks. Over the years, the airline has managed to acquire quite a good name in the sector, especially in the Southeast Asian region as well as the Indian subcontinent for providing ideal destinations. The airline has quite a presence in India as it connects to some of the South Indian cities such as Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi. The airline witnesses regular passenger traffic from these cities in India. While it did connect to Coimbatore, Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram and Visakhapatnam in the past, they have terminated these domestic routes, as of 2020. Meanwhile, in terms of its other international route connectivity, SilkAir has a presence in a handful of cities present in China, Indonesia and Australia. Some of the top cities for SilkAir include Broome, Darwin, Phnom Penh, Chengdu, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Bandung, Denpasar, Surabaya, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Yangon, Kathmandu, Davao, Cebu, Singapore, Colombo, Koh Samui, Phuket, Da Nang and Hanoi. The airline currently has codeshare agreements with Air China, Air New Zealand, Bangkok Airways, Fiji Airways, Garuda Indonesia, Lao Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Virgin Australia and Vistara. Additionally, SilkAir also has codeshare agreements with Singapore Airlines and its subsidiary Scoot.

Why travel by SilkAir?

SilkAir is practically perfect for budget travellers who want to get around the Southeast Asian countries without having to shell out a fortune. The kind of tourists who usually travel through the tropical beaches of Southeast Asian tourist destinations have just one thing in mind, to take a dip in the ocean—much of the budget centres around partying and participating in water sports activities. For them, splurging on airfare is the last thing to do. Hence, SilkAir works out tremendously well. Passengers can book a SilkAir flight on the airline's official website. They can also be found on other travel flight ticket selling portals as the brand has become quite famous, thanks to its affordable prices.

The airline has also upgraded its website by adding necessary drop-down menus and connecting pages. These include a dedicated tab for web check-ins and managing of the ticket booking. Passengers can also find details such as flight status and SilkAir's flight schedules on the website. Further, it is easier to find all the information regarding the baggage allowance and in-flight services in one place.