Singapore Airlines 2011 Annual Report Download - page 10

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SINGAPORE AIRLINES
008
The events of the last financial year tested us in new ways once again. While earnings continued to improve
as demand recovered further, 2010/2011 began with flight disruptions across Europe due to volcanic activity
in Iceland. Operations were also affected during the financial year by Airbus A380 engine issues, snowstorms
in parts of Europe and the US east coast, and earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan. Fuel prices rose to
two-and-a-half-year highs.
Yet we have much to be proud of in the way we faced the many challenges. The various operational disruptions
affected the travel plans of many of our customers, but due to the hard work and dedication of our staff we were
widely praised for our customer care. We remained focused on the customer in other areas as well, through
enhancements to our products and services. All our core values were adhered to during the year: Pursuit of
Excellence, Safety, Customer First, Concern for Staff, Integrity and Teamwork.
Singapore Airlines also played its part as a good corporate citizen and gave back to the community. In addition
to our longstanding support for various charitable organisations as well as educational, arts, heritage and sports
institutions, we organised a charity gala dinner which raised more than $1.4 million, with proceeds going to
Singapore’s Community Chest. We also committed to donating US$3 million to support the Harapan Rainforest
Initiative in Sumatra, Indonesia, which is a project that will provide long-term, sustainable benefits for the
global environment.
For our customers, we continued to invest in our products and services, in part by taking delivery of new Airbus
A330-300 and Airbus A380 aircraft, and completing a retrofit programme for 11 of our Boeing 777-200
aircraft to fit them with new cabin products. Plans for inflight connectivity were announced for our long-haul
aircraft to meet the growing needs of our customers to stay connected at all times, even when at 35,000ft.
Our network continued to grow, with the introduction of services in October to Tokyo Haneda airport,
complementing existing services to Tokyo Narita airport. In late March 2011, South America became the sixth
continent in the Singapore Airlines route network with the introduction of services to Sao Paulo in Brazil. At
the same time we progressively restored some of the capacity that was cut during the economic downturn of
the previous two years, by increasing flight frequency to popular destinations such as Guangzhou, Hong Kong,
Male and Taipei.
Singapore Airlines continues to take a long-term view and is constantly exploring new opportunities for network
growth, balanced of course by the need to closely match capacity to demand. In the year ahead, we will be
further enhancing our products and services with additional exciting initiatives, while continuing to invest in our
people, who are our greatest asset.
The constant improvement process is ultimately intended to benefit our customers - our number one priority.
We are grateful to our customers for supporting us through these difficult past few years and we remain
committed to meeting and exceeding their expectations.
The last financial year was also noteworthy for the smooth implementation of leadership succession plans, with
the retirement of Chew Choon Seng on 31 December 2010. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to
thank Choon Seng for his 39 years of dedicated service to Singapore Airlines, including seven and a half years
as CEO. Choon Seng has left behind a lasting legacy on the company. We wish him the very best in his new
roles as Chairman of Singapore Exchange Limited and Chairman of the Singapore Tourism Board.
Goh Choon Phong, who joined the Board on 1 October 2010 and who became CEO on 1 January 2011, is
clearly a worthy successor to Choon Seng. In his more than 20 years with SIA he has worked across key areas
of the company and developed the necessary attributes for the top executive job. He also has an exceptionally
strong management team to support him.
CHAIRMAN’S LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS