Singapore Airlines, founded on May 1, 1947, began its operations on October 1, 1972. It proudly serves as the flag carrier of the Republic of Singapore, with its main hub situated at Singapore Changi Airport. The airline is renowned for its iconic corporate symbol, the Singapore Girl, and has been honored with the title of the World's Best Airline by Skytrax on approximately four occasions.

Singapore Airlines Group comprises over 20 subsidiaries, including various airline-related entities. SIA Engineering Company oversees maintenance and repairs across nine countries and boasts a portfolio of 27 joint ventures, featuring collaborations with industry giants like Rolls-Royce, Boeing, and Singapore Airlines Cargo. Singapore Airlines was a pioneer in introducing the Airbus A380 and consistently ranks among the top 15 global carriers in terms of revenue passenger kilometers. It holds the tenth position worldwide for the number of international passengers. In 2019, it was honored as Skytrax World's Best Airline Cabin Crew. Additionally, Singapore Airlines secured the second and fourth positions for being the World's Best Airline and the World's Cleanest Airline in 2019.

Corporate Affairs

The majority ownership of the airline is held by the Singapore government's investment arm and holding company, Temasek Holdings, which possessed 55% of the voting stock as of March 31, 2020.

The government retains a golden share through the Ministry of Finance, emphasizing the importance of Singapore Changi Airport's role as an aviation hub over that of SIA, a viewpoint championed by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew. His personal involvement helped resolve tensions between the company and its pilots in the early 2000s. Singapore Airlines is headquartered at Airlie House, a hangar at Changi Airport in Singapore.

Branding

Unlike most airlines, Singapore Airlines places a strong emphasis on its flight crew in its branding efforts. The airline promotes its female flight attendants, known as the Singapore Girls, and its logo is inspired by a bird from regional folklore called the Silver Kris.

Destinations

Singapore Airlines serves 75 destinations in 32 countries across five continents from its primary hub in Singapore. During the Asian financial crisis in 1997, Singapore Airlines discontinued routes to Berlin, Darwin, Cairns, Kagoshima, Sendai, and Hangzhou. Toronto was also discontinued in 1994.

Amid the SARS outbreak in 2003-04, Singapore Airlines suspended flights to Las Vegas, Chicago, Mauritius, Vienna, Madrid, Shenzhen, Surabaya, and Brussels. The airline also operated two of the world's longest flights, nonstop from Singapore to LA and Newark using Airbus A340-500 aircraft. However, the nonstop service to LA ended on October 20, 2013, and to Newark on November 23, 2013.

Singapore Airlines previously operated flights between Singapore and Wellington via Canberra until May 2018, after which the intermediate stop was changed to Melbourne. This route was known as the Capital Express.

Singapore Airlines has capitalized on liberal bilateral aviation agreements with countries like Thailand and the UAE, offering expanded onward connections from Bangkok and Dubai.

AirAsia, a Malaysian-based low-cost airline, accused Singapore Airlines of double standards and claimed that the Government of Singapore sought to limit its access to the Singapore market. On October 14, 2015, Singapore Airlines announced its plans to resume the world's longest non-stop flight, connecting Singapore and New York.

Fleet

Singapore Airlines operates a fleet of 148 Airbus and Boeing passenger aircraft, in addition to nine freighters. The average age of its passenger aircraft stands at 5 years and 11 months as of April 1, 2020.