It seems that Singapore Airlines must be feeling the pressure from JetStar and AirAsia X with the announcement today of a medium to long haul “Low Cost Carrier” that will use widebody aircraft.
The plan is to base the airline at Singapore, and be operating it within a year.
Singapore Airlines state:
“The new airline is being established following extensive review and analysis. It will enable the SIA Group to serve a largely untapped new market and cater to the growing demand among consumers for low-fare travel”
The airlines will be separate, with Singapore Airlines and Silk Air operating as they are as premium airlines (and how dare anyone think that Singapore Airlines would directly operate a narrow bodied aircraft by itself), and the new airline being it’s own little airline.
So what is the airline going to be called and how is it going to look? We’ll find out “in due course”. What has been announced is that initial frames will be sourced from the parent airline (Singapore Airlines), and that future frames “are open” to whatever is being sold or available for lease.
Well it’s been long time coming with the pressure of AirAsia X and JetStar Asia. It’ll be interesting to see how discounted this will play out, and the differentiations between the two products.
