SilkAir is Singapore Airlines’ wholly owned regional subsidiary. They operate a fleet of 33 narrowbody aircraft, including Airbus A320 family and Boeing 737 aircraft, though over time they plan to switch to an all Boeing fleet, as they have a further 32 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft on order.
SilkAir operates many regional routes that are either high frequency or lower demand, where it wouldn’t make sense to operate a Singapore Airlines plane. That’s because Singapore Airlines’ fleet consists exclusively of widebody aircraft, which can’t operate to many markets (it’s similar to the situation between Emirates and FlyDubai in the UAE).
There’s a pretty significant change coming to SilkAir’s branding and business. Singapore Airlines has announced that the SilkAir brand will be completely folded into the Singapore Airlines brand over the next few years.
With these changes, Singapore Airlines will invest more than $100 million to upgrade SilkAir’s cabins with lie-flat seats in business class, as well as seatback entertainment in both economy and business class. This will ensure that there’s more consistency across the entire Singapore Airlines fleet.
So what’s your opinion about this news? Personally i think its a smart move by SQ to simplify their market (SQ for premium traveller,Scoot for low cost traveller) and i would also love to see SQ livery on the 737MAX… too bad the A320s are getting retired though… and i would love to try out their new narrowbody regional product as well…
I believe SIA needs to do a massive overhaul in Silkair’s fleet. Many people who are travelling in SIA usually tends to avoid Silkair as Silkair is more into a leisure airline a.k.a half LCC (No IFEs, tight seatpitch compared to other FCCs in the region). I’m sure SIA doesn’t want to lose their customers once they have fully merged. So it makes sense if SIA wants to ensure the customers that they will do their best to revamp the current J
I have sensed this merger from several months ago. Not long after Scoot and Tigerair Singapore merger, SIA announced a “half merger” with Silkair (with the merger of financial operations)
I believe SIA wants to merge with Silkair as soon as possible to reduce operational costs and also to strengthen their presence in the region. I’m looking forward for not just their revamped Business, but revamped Economy aswell 😊
I tend to avoid silk air due to its price… i mean from SUB to SIN it cost around 4 million rupiah return which is the same price as garuda… and garuda have the IFE…
Wow! That’s even on par with SIA’s Jakarta-Singapore route! I would prefer Garuda over Silkair everyday 😂
According to AusBT, Silkair will add IFE/AVOD in the back of the seats for both Economy and Business class seats. Other than that, there might be some exchange between Silkair and Singapore Airlines’ network during this transition process. Which means one of Silkair’s busiest routes can be transfered to SIA’s network and SIA’s less popular route may be transferred to Silkair’s
On A B737-800 SilkAir. I have no problem with the seats even with legrooms (Im 6’2) and No IFE. I enjoy every flight at the window filming and making trip reports. 3hrs - 4hrs flight im good with silkair. But i notice that i got like dirt all over my skin and my clothes. Im not sure if its because of the A/C are connected to the engine.
I think SIA’s jakarta to singapore is around 8 million during the summer season… but yeah, i would prefer garuda even though someone recently complained about the quality of the meal… the good thing about this merger is that SQ is gonna bring the price down (presumably) to compete with garuda…
I dont know what really cause of it. I just notice it during cruise altitude and landing @ Singapore. Those dirt are hard to wash with water and soap. I tried to use hot towels to remove it from my skin. I change my clothes while waiting for my next flight. 🤣🤣🤣
