In The Air…
Singapore Airlines announced today further reductions in capacity to its current destinations. But even more surprising are the announcement of the retirement of up to 17 passenger aircrafts from revenue service, a whopping 11% of its 102-strong fleet of aircrafts. No specific aircrafts were mentioned for the retirement programme, but speculations are pointing to a number of early Boeing 777s, which were to be replaced with the new Airbus A330-300s, as well as the Boeing 747-400s.
Its cargo arm, Singapore Airlines Cargo has already parked a Boeing 747-400 Freighter at one of the deserts in the US, owing to the dwindling numbers in cargo handled by the airline. SIA also recently announced the indefinite suspension of services to Vancouver, with effect from April 25th 2009.
There are good news though, as AirAsia, through its Indonesian wing, Indonesia AirAsia, announced new routes between Singapore and 4 cities in Indonesia. No specific dates were mentioned for the new routes between Singapore and Jakarta, Denpasar-Bali, Yogyakarta and Bandung. This follows approval from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore for Indonesia AirAsia to fly between the 2 ASEAN countries. Jakarta and Bali are now served by another budget carrier, ValuAir. Bandung was previously served by Merpati Nusantara Airlines, before being axed not so long ago.
Tiger Airways have also announced new routes between Singapore, Jakarta and Bali. Interesting to note that the Indonesian authorities will not recognise Tiger Airways as a budget carrier, but rather as a boutique airline. Sriwijaya Airlines is another Indonesian carrier that have started flying between Jakarta and Singapore. Sriwijiaya is, however, not a budget carrier.
Back on the ground, the long-awaited Circle Line will start running come May 30th 2009. The brand new MRT line which intersects the current East-West, North-South and Northeast MRT lines will see the Stage 3 stations, between Bartley and Marymount open its doors to commuters. The other 4 stages will open progressively from 2010.
The Transport Ministry also announced that the current rail projects under construction will be speed up, in anticipation of an expected increase in passenger numbers in the near future. These includes the extension of the North-South Line to the upcoming Marina South Cruise Terminal, the Jurong East Modification Project – which will see an additional track to be constructed, the Downtown Line and the Eastern Region Line. 22 new trains will also be acquired for the EWL and NSL. The new trains will roll out in 2011. The already completed Boon Lay Extension on the East-West Line will commence operations on February 28th.
