aviation - the past, present and future of flight

we had not made the bold decision in 1972

to purchase this iconic jetliner.

“The jumbo enabled us to  y from

Singapore to destinations that we could not

previously reach. It also allowed us to do

things that were previously unimaginable

on a commercial aircraft, giving us the

opportunity to provide our customers new

standards in space and comfort.”

The jumbo lives on with the carrier as

it has seven 747-400 Freighters, and has

dubbed them ‘Mega Arks’.

In 1996, SIA’s  rst A340-300 arrived, the

type serving until 2003. Around this time the

Boeing 777 arrived and SIA currently  ies

eight of the -200 and seven of the -200ER.

The larger 777-300 and 777-300ER joined

SIA in 1998 and 2006 respectively. The

company  ies  ve of the standard model and

27 of the longer-range variant – and the type

has largely been used to replace the jumbos.

RECORD BREAKER

SIA showed its global ambition with the

ultra long-range A340-500 which, arriving

in October 2003, was used for the world’s

longest non-stop  ight – from Singapore to

Newark airport in New York. The service

was aimed primarily at the business market.

Expensive to operate, the  ights ended

in November 2013 – at least for a while, until

the delivery of the Airbus A350 Ultra Long

Range (ULR). The service, which covers

10,300 miles (16,700km), will take 18hr

45min and resume in October. Seven A

ULRs are among an order for 67 A350-

900s. The  rst of the standard variant was

delivered in 2016.

October 15, 2007 was a landmark day for

SIA as it took delivery of the very  rst Airbus

A380 to be handed over to an airline. Ten

days later it  ew its  rst commercial service

on the Singapore to Sydney route.

Two years later SIA took delivery of 30

Airbus A330-300s – mainly for regional

routes – and in 2013 placed an order for 30

787-10 Dreamliners, the  rst of which arrived

on March 28 this year. Singapore Airlines

CEO Goh Choon Phong said at the delivery

ceremony: “It’s an honour for us to be the

world’s  rst airline to take delivery of this

amazing aircraft.

“The 787-10 is indeed a magni cent piece

of engineering and truly a work of art. It

will be an important element in our overall

growth strategy, enabling us to expand our

network and strengthen our operations.

18 Aviation News incorporating Jets July 2018

The airline began its association with the jumbo in

1972 with this variant – the Boeing 747-200. Carl Ford

McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30s were in the  eet between 1972 and 1983. This

example was visiting Zürich in 1978. AirTeamImages.com/The Samba Collection

British Airways and Singapore Airlines operated a joint service to Singapore using a Concorde that was an extension of the UK carrier’s

Heathrow to Bahrain rotation. To highlight this co-operation, G-BOAD was painted in Singapore Airlines’ livery on the port side. Carl Ford

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