SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) confirmed yesterday its intention to establish a new medium- and long-haul low-cost carrier (LCC) in Singapore within a year.
While the corporate branding, fleet and network of this new wholly-owned subsidiary remains unknown, what is clear is that the new airline will have different branding from SIA, operate wide-body aircraft and be managed independently.
Recent news of intention by AirAsia and Qantas Airways to establish subsidiaries in Singapore may have hastened the launch of this new airline, but plans – even if only as a contingency – must have been in the works for some time.
The new airline could also be useful for SIA to offload underperforming destinations such as Athens, as well as allow it to embrace new leisure destinations that have hitherto not fit into SIA’s business model.
SIA is in the process of retiring its few remaining B747-400s and a small number of B777-200s. Some of these aircraft could possibly form the backbone of the new subsidiary’s fleet.
