Singapore Airlines has welcomed nine ex-SilkAir Boeing 737-800 NGs, donned in Singapore’s iconic livery, to its fleet.
It comes as SilkAir officially ceased operations on 28 January, finalising the merger of the regional subsidiary back into its parent airline, which has been in the works since May 2018.
As such, SIA is due to absorb SilkAir’s fleet and network into its own operations, and will begin tackling regional routes on its subsidiary’s ex-737s from 4 March, with destinations such as Phuket and Brunei.
More regional routes will be transferred to the Singapore Airlines network over the coming months, with the full integration of SilkAir into Singapore Airlines scheduled for completion during the 2021-22 financial year.
Like its regional subsidiary once offered, the SIA 737-800NG offers 12 Business Class seats and 150 in Economy.
Goh Choon Phong, Singapore Airlines chief executive, said, “The introduction of the SIA 737-800 NG will bring about a more comfortable and seamless travel experience for customers on our regional routes.
“Integrating SilkAir with SIA also allows us to be nimble and flexible in aircraft deployment, and supports our fleet and network growth strategy.”
The merging of SilkAir’s operations into SIA has been in the works since May 2018.
It follows the news that Singapore Airlines Group would retire 26 aircraft from its fleet, after the company posted a record $1.74 billion loss in the third quarter in 2020.
SIA claimed the chosen 26 aircraft to be retired are “deemed surplus to requirements”, and do not include the additional seven Boeing 777s being retired amid the liquidation of Scoot joint venture, NokScoot.
The list of aircraft due to retire from Singapore Airlines’ fleet includes seven Airbus A380s, four Boeing 777-200/200ERs, and four Boeing 777-300s.
Meanwhile, nine Airbus A320s and two Airbus A319s were announced to be retired from the SilkAir fleet.
