Some more positive news about Singapore Airlines which even mentions interactive entertainment systems.(not the company but the actual system)
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Wednesday September 16, 7:03 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Singapore Airlines Limited
Singapore Airlines Announces S$500
Million (US$300 Million) Product
Launch
SINGAPORE, Sept. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Singapore Airlines (SIA) today announced its biggest-ever product launch, with brand-new product and service features being introduced in all three classes on its MEGATOP 747s. The launch also includes new features on its CELESTAR
A340s and JUBILEE 777s.
Costing over S$500 million (about US$300 million), and the end result of more than two years of research and meticulous planning, the new product strengthens SIA's leadership in the air travel
market.
''Although our current product continues to rank among the best in the industry, it was time to make a bold and exciting change,'' said SIA Deputy Chairman and CEO Choong Kong Cheong. ''We wanted to send a very clear message to the industry: our customers expect the best of SIA, and the best is what they will get. Any airline that attempts to steal a march on us in the all-important areas of product and service does so in the knowledge that their advantage can only be temporary.''
In addition to changes to the First, Raffles and Economy Class products, SIA has also introduced new inflight cuisine and other service features, including a luxurious First Class check-in reception at Singapore Changi Airport. ''The product launch involves every dimension of the customer's travel experience with the airline,'' said Dr. Cheong. ''We looked at everything. When viewed in its
entirety, this is by far our biggest-ever investment in the product.''
First Class
The new First Class service begins at the curbside, where arriving customers are met and escorted to an elegant reception lounge, in which premium service staff, clad in new uniforms designed by
Pierre Balmain, attend to the check-in formalities.
In the re-designed First Class cabin, where the seat capacity has been reduced from 16 to 12 to add to the exclusiveness of the product, customers will enjoy unprecedented privacy and personal attention. The cabin, designed in conjunction with British designer James Park, has an aura of grandeur, more in keeping with an exclusive club. Rich Connolly leather, complemented by burr wood and tinted metal finishes, evokes an ambiance of richness and luxury.
Individual mini-suites offer numerous features, including seat-beds, a hotel-style retractable desk for working or dining, and a 14-inch fold-away video monitor, the largest ever provided for an individual
passenger by any international airline. First Class passengers can choose when to dine, and meals are served directly from the galley. The dishes offered are part of SIA's World Gourmet Cuisine,
created by seven of the world's most renowned chefs and culinary experts including Paris' most celebrated gourmet, Georges Blanc.
SIA's executive vice president (commercial), Michael Tan, described SIA's approach to creating a new First Class product. ''We stripped the cabin virtually bare and re-designed it from scratch. But
we did not stop at installing new seat-beds. Even the small items, such as the inflight amenities and serviceware, have a special touch of elegance. Most of these items have been designed for SIA by
Givenchy.''
Raffles Class
Givenchy also played a major part in creating the new Raffles Class product. Not only the amenities and serviceware, but the entire cabin has been given the Givenchy flourish, with two alternating
designs for the seat fabric, to give passengers a sense of individuality. The color scheme of dark blue, light blue and beige creates a dignified yet warm and soothing ambiance.
The seats themselves are designed exclusively for SIA by Ludeke Design of the United States, based on a first class seat frame. New features include increased seat width and height, a privacy divider (an industry ''first'') between adjacent seats, a personal in-seat reading light, an in-seat power supply for laptop personal computers, and a collapsible front edge for the seat base cushion. The seat pitch of 52 inches is the best offered in business class by any airline with a three-class product. The result is a business class seat that offers supreme comfort.
Raffles Class passengers will also enjoy the use of active noise-canceling headphones, presently a First Class luxury. These headphones greatly enhance the sound quality of SIA's inflight
entertainment system, KrisWorld, by eliminating background noise.
In addition to World Gourmet Cuisine, there are some additional new features on the menu for the Raffles Class customer that were previously offered only to First Class passengers. These include a
cheeseboard service, with walnut bread, crackers and accompaniments served from the trolley, and to round off the meal, espresso served with biscotti, or cappuccino served with pralines.
Economy Class
Economy Class passengers on SIA are used to special treatment: they have been able to enjoy KrisWorld, SIA's interactive entertainment system, since 1996, with personal video monitors and in-seat phones. They are now being offered even more choice and can travel in a style that is confined to the business class cabin on most other airlines. Much-improved seats, enhanced with adjustable headrests, side ''ears'' and footrests, will make Economy Class travel on SIA a delight. And to add a touch of luxury, passengers will be offered champagne throughout the flight.
Economy Class passengers will also be served World Gourmet Cuisine, with dishes such as terrineof smoked salmon and asparagus, terrine of salmon and potatoes in herb vinaigrette, and vinegared
cucumber with BBQ eels. ''Champagne and dishes of this quality are more usually associated with conventional business class,'' said Tan.
Tan also recognized the importance of excellent staff, especially cabin crew and ground staff. ''Ultimately, the latest state-of-the-art product hardware must be matched by excellent service.
Hardware can be copied. It is our people who make the real difference.''
The launch comes at a time when East Asia is in the grip of economic turmoil, but SIA is notdeparting from its philosophy of prudent financial management. ''We began planning this launch
more than two years ago, long before the crisis took effect,'' said Tan. ''But in any case, crisis or no crisis, we are an international airline, competing on the world stage. Not all of our competitors are in Asia. We have to compete with airlines in America and Europe, and they are continuing to enhance their own products. We must forge ahead and reassert our leadership in high-quality service and product innovation.''
SOURCE: Singapore Airlines Limited
Related News Categories: airlines/aviation
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