Singapore Airlines 2002 Annual Report Download - page 21

SIA saw opportunities
to expand its network
during the first half of
the period under review,
in spite of a slowing
global economy, but
after September 11,
flight planners had to
adjust capacity to meet
changing patterns of
demand.
NETWORK
SIA saw opportunities to expand its network
during the first half of the period under
review, in spite of a slowing global economy,
but after September 11, flight planners had
to adjust capacity to meet changing
patterns of demand.
Having increased services to Bangkok,
Brisbane, Frankfurt, Guangzhou, Hong Kong,
Osaka, Shanghai and Taipei in the first half
of the year, SIA had to suspend services on
a number of routes in the second half.
During the months after September 11,
capacity to several markets, especially
North America and Japan, was reduced.
Some services were suspended indefinitely.
However, as traffic volume started to improve
towards the end of the financial year, most
of these services had either resumed or
were planned to be reinstated by May 2002.
In North America, seven transatlantic services
were suspended, beginning with one
New York (Newark) service via Amsterdam
in October 2001, and followed by three
New York (JFK) services via Frankfurt, and
the thrice-weekly Chicago service via
Amsterdam, both in January 2002. Four
transpacific services to North America were
also suspended, two to Los Angeles (via
Taipei) and two to San Francisco (via Seoul).
In total, 11 of SIA's 45 weekly services to
North America were suspended, a reduction
of about 20 per cent in terms of seat
capacity.
By the end of March 2002, five of the 11
suspended services had resumed, with
the remaining six planned for reinstatement
by May 2002.
In Japan, the number of weekly services
was reduced from 55 to 47, a 13 per cent
cut in seat capacity, with Fukuoka, Hiroshima,
Nagoya and Osaka the affected destinations.
The suspended services to Hiroshima and
Nagoya (one each) were later reinstated,
in April and May 2002 respectively.
Several services in Asia were suspended,
and SIA stopped flying to Kota Kinabalu,
Kuching and Macau. As at 31 March 2002,
there were no plans to resume services to
these three cities. Flights to Karachi and
Lahore in Pakistan were suspended on a
temporary basis but were later resumed,
although the previous four weekly services
were cut to three. One Australian city was
also affected: Perth, where the number of
weekly services was cut from 21 to 18.
On a more positive note, the Airline mounted
25 extra flights to Australia and New Zealand
during the December peak, and over Lunar
New Year, 13 flights were added to Malaysia.
In addition, larger-capacity aircraft were
used on 32 of the scheduled services to
Kuala Lumpur and Penang during the Lunar
New Year period.
As at 31 March 2002, SIA operated a total
of 600 weekly passenger flights out of
Singapore.
In October 2001, SIA launched its first
codeshare with Virgin Atlantic on Economy
Class between Singapore and London.
Benefits for SIA and Virgin customers include
an expanded network, better connections,
access to more lounges and a seamless
travel experience. Frequent flyer miles on
both airlines count towards elite status.
As at 31 March 2002, SIA’s passenger
network served 64 cities in 37 countries.
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20 SIA Annual Report 01/02