Airline
Singapore Airlines
SQ · SIA · SINGAPORESingaporeTemasek Holdings (majority)
Identity
- IATA
- SQ
- ICAO
- SIA
- Callsign
- SINGAPORE
- Founded
- May 1, 1947
- First service
- 1972
Company
- Headquarters
- Airline House, Changi, Singapore
- Country
- Singapore
- Parent
- Temasek Holdings (majority)
- Status
- Operating
Network
- Alliance
- Star Alliance, joined 2000
Hubs and bases
Singapore Changi AirportSIN
Hub
Singapore Airlines is the flag carrier of Singapore, flying from Changi Airport and majority-owned by the government investment company Temasek Holdings. A member of Star Alliance since April 2000, it was the launch customer for the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 787-10 and the first operator of the ultra-long-range Airbus A350-900. Scoot, its wholly owned subsidiary, is a low-cost carrier.
Formation
Malayan Airways Limited was incorporated on 21 October 1937 to create a regional airline. After the war it flew its inaugural flight, a charter from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, on 2 April 1947, and was launched on 1 May 1947, with regular weekly services to Ipoh and Penang. By 1955 it flew a sizeable fleet of Douglas DC-3s, and it went public in 1957.
When Malaysia was formed in 1963 the airline became Malaysian Airways, and after Singapore left the federation it became Malaysia-Singapore Airlines in 1966.
Growth and expansion
Malaysia-Singapore Airlines ceased operations in 1972, and Singapore Airlines and Malaysian Airline System began flying in its place. Singapore Airlines' name, SIA callsign and blue-and-yellow livery were made official on 1 July 1972, and the Singapore Girl was introduced the same year. It grew almost overnight: its first Boeing 747s arrived in the summer of 1973, and by 1976 it flew an all-Boeing fleet of 21 aircraft.
In December 1977 British Airways and Singapore Airlines shared a Concorde between London and Singapore via Bahrain; after interruptions the service ended for good on 1 November 1980. Services to the United States began in April 1979, flown with new McDonnell Douglas DC-10s.
Fleet
Singapore Airlines was the launch customer for the Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger aircraft, and for the Boeing 787-10, and the first operator of the ultra-long-range Airbus A350-900. It once flew two of the longest flights in the world, nonstop from Singapore to Los Angeles and to Newark with the Airbus A340-500.
Subsidiaries
- Scoot
- A wholly owned low-cost carrier.
Genealogy
The line of Singapore Airlines: Malayan Airways, launched in 1947, renamed Malaysian Airways in 1963 and Malaysia-Singapore Airlines in 1966, which split in 1972 into Singapore Airlines and Malaysian Airline System.
Scroll to see the full diagram
Timeline
October 21, 1937
Malayan Airways Limited is incorporated
May 1, 1947
Malayan Airways is launched
1963
Renamed Malaysian Airways
1966
Renamed Malaysia-Singapore Airlines
1972
The airline splits; Singapore Airlines begins operations
December 1977
Concorde shared with British Airways between London and Singapore
April 1979
Services to the United States begin
April 2000
Joins Star Alliance
November 12, 2024
Vistara, its joint venture with Tata, merges into Air India
In the catalogue
Aircraft central to this airline's story, as the encyclopedia records them.
Related airlines
- Singapore Airlines, Wikipedia
- History of Singapore Airlines, Wikipedia
Checked September 19, 2026