Singapore Airlines is one of the world’s leading airlines and focuses on improving the customer experience. So, how has this modern airline made efforts to not only ensure safety but also enhance passenger experience amid the pandemic? In the new normal, what does Singapore Airlines plan to do to strengthen its position as one of the top-ranked airlines in the world?
Destination Review had the opportunity to listen to Mr. Mark Lee, General Manager of Singapore Airlines in Vietnam, share their efforts to help customers rebuild confidence in air travel with their health and safety measures.
Thank you. We are indeed very excited to support the Vietnam Government’s re-opening plans with our resumption of inbound commercial flights. Currently, Singapore Airlines (SIA) is operating eleven times weekly flights each from Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City, and to Hanoi. We are heartened that the timely increase in weekly inbound flights have allowed SIA to reconnect customers with their loved ones ahead of the Tet holiday.
As you may know, SIA has continued operating regular commercial flights out of Vietnam throughout the pandemic to facilitate essential travel and logistics movement, and even stepped up flight frequencies over the course of the pandemic.
At this moment, we are operating eleven times weekly outbound flights each from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, to Singapore, connecting to the rest of the SIA group network destinations. We continue working closely with regulatory authorities to offer full support to Vietnam’s re-opening plans, matching capacity with travel demand.
As you might expect, customer expectations for air travel have changed in the new normal. Health and safety are certainly the key focus since the onset of the pandemic, regardless of customer profile. As air travel resumes, customers want assurance that their well-being is protected throughout their journey, so that they can travel with confidence, whether it is for work or leisure.
SIA has focused on reimagining and enhancing the end-to-end travel journey experience for our customers. To protect both the health and safety of our customers and staff, we quickly set up an internal task force at the onset of the pandemic, and proactively took a comprehensive review of the customer journey, deep diving into around 100 customer touchpoints. We reinforced existing procedures, introduced new measures to supplement them, and used digital technologies to complement them. This was important as robust health and safety measures are an important part of our premium position and brand promise. We want to ensure that both our staff and customers feel confident when they work or travel with us.
From check-in to arrival, safety precautions such as enhanced cleaning and rigorous disinfecting, as well as meaningful innovations to minimise contact, are taken in to give customers the confidence to travel without worries.
We also prioritised the integration of robust health and safety measures with innovative digital initiatives, into the customers’ end-to-end journey, providing greater reassurance and a more seamless travel experience during these times.
These are among many of the measures that we have implemented to protect the health and safety of our customers and staff.
SIA health and safety measures have also been recognised by several industry-level awards, such as the Skytrax 5-Star Health and Safety rating and the Diamond rating in the APEX SimpliFlying Health Safety audit — the highest level attainable in the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) Health Safety audit of global airlines.
With the Covid-19 situation constantly evolving, we will remain nimble and flexible, ready to tackle any challenge posed to the aviation industry.
The airline industry has always been volatile, constantly challenged by economic forces and external events beyond our control. SIA has faced intense competition and challenges from Day 1. It is ingrained in our DNA to take nothing for granted, and to always work hard to be in the position that we are.
While the Covid-19 situation is constantly evolving and uncertain, SIA has not sat still. In terms of opening up borders, Singapore’s quarantine-free Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) arrangements are an important milestone in SIA’s recovery from the impact of Covid-19. The calibrated implementation of VTLs have increased confidence in international air travel, allowing for the reopening of Singapore’s borders with robust health and safety measures and testing protocols in place. This has led to a meaningful resumption of passenger traffic, both into Singapore and through Changi Airport to other points in the SIA Group network, supporting our recovery as an air hub.
SIA will continue to closely monitor travel demand patterns and passenger arrival caps, and adjust our capacity accordingly.
We remain steadfast in our commitment to our customers by strengthening the three pillars of our brand promise – service excellence, product leadership and network connectivity. Robust health and safety measures will also remain part of our brand promise, and the world-class experience that we offer when our customers fly with SIA.
Thank you very much!
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