Discover

'Singapore Airlines Cargo' (SIA Cargo) is the fully owned subsidiary of Singapore Airlines and was formed in 2001. SIA Cargo is the world's third biggest cargo airline in terms of international freight tonne kilometres (FTK). It has a dedicated flight network spanning 36 cities in 18 countries,^[1] Cargo Quick Reference Timetable - North American Cargo Quick Reference Timetable - North Asian Cargo Quick Reference Timetable - South-West Pacific Cargo Quick Reference Timetable - European Cargo Quick Reference Timetable - West Asian & African managing an 8 billion tonne kilometre capacity through a fleet of 14 all-cargo aircraft and the cargo holds of 96 passenger aircraft operated by Singapore Airlines.^[2]
The airline is part of the WOW Alliance which also includes Lufthansa Cargo, SAS Cargo Group, and JAL Cargo as members. The airline owns a 25% stake in Great Wall Airlines, a new cargo airline based in Shanghai. Great Wall Airlines leased 2 Boeing 747-412F from SIA Cargo to operate its first route from Shanghai's Pudong Airport to Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport.

Contents

History

Destinations

Fleet

References

External links

History

Singapore Airlines Cargo was incorporated in 1 July 2001, taking over the air freight operations of Singapore Airlines as a separate subsidiary. SIA Cargo leased the entire freighter fleet from Singapore Airlines, as well as taking over management of the cargo holds in all of Singapore Airlines' passenger aircraft. Within a few months, it entered an alliance with Lufthansa Cargo and SAS Cargo Group to form WOW Alliance on 1 October 2001.^[3] Japan Airlines Cargo joined the alliance later on 5 July 2002.^[4]
''Securerider'', a premium product for secured shipments was launched on 7 January 2002,^[3] including services such as ''Swiftrider'', ''Timerider'' and ''Coolrider'' targeting general shipments, heavy shipments, and temperature sensitive cargo respectively.
The airline garnered its first award as an all-cargo airline by winning the "Best Global Air Cargo Carrier" and "Best Air Cargo Carrier - Asia" at the Asian Freight Industry Awards (AFIA) in 2002, an award which parent company Singapore Airlines had already won eight times consecutively.^[3] It was named as the "Best Airfreight Carrier" in the inaugural Hong Kong-based Asia Logistics Awards in the same year.^[3]
New routes were introduced in the next few years as the airline began to take advantage of liberalised aviation agreements. A round the world service was introduced on 31 October 2001, flying from Singapore to Hong Kong, Dallas, Chicago, Brussels, Sharjah, and back to Singapore on Wednesdays, and on the Singapore, Hong Kong, Dallas, Chicago, Brussels, Mumbai, Singapore route on Fridays.^[4] It became the first third-country freighter airline to fly direct between China and the United States on 22 May 2003 when flights commenced from Singapore to Xiamen, Nanjing and onwards to Chicago. Return flights are operated from Chicago and Los Angeles to Nanjing.^[3]
In March 2004, a weekly New York City-Brussels-Kuwait-Colombo-Singapore routing was introduced.^[10]

Destinations

Main articles: Singapore Airlines Cargo destinations

Singapore Airlines Cargo operates dedicated cargo flights to 36 destinations in 18 countries, of which 25 are served by both Singapore Airlines passenger aircraft and SIA Cargo aircraft. The airline also has scheduled cargo flights to 11 destinations, which do not receive service from Singapore Airlines passenger aircraft, namely: Nairobi, Tianjin, Xiamen, Macau, Kuwait City, Sharjah, Brussels, Dublin, Anchorage, Chicago and Dallas. Sharjah and Brussels serve as hubs for the Middle Eastern and European regions respectively.
Additionally, as SIA Cargo manages the cargo holds of all Singapore Airlines passenger aircraft, the company offers cargo product services to all destinations on the Singapore Airlines passenger network.

Fleet

When incorporated in 2001, all nine Singapore Airlines' Boeing 747 MegaArk freighters were transferred to the new cargo startup at market value, and henceforth, all new freighter purchases were to be made from the new company's books. All cargo-hold spaces in the Singapore Airlines' passenger planes are also managed by the new company.
SIA Cargo currently operates 14 Boeing 747-400 MegaArk freighters, with one further aircraft on order as at March 2005. The Boeing 747-400 MegaArk freighter, with a 110 tonne payload and 8,245 km range, can carry more payloads further than any other commercial cargo aircraft, and feature typical capabilities such as front loading from the nose, temperature control and pressure regulation systems. The average age of the freighter fleet was 5 years 8 months as at 31 March 2006 (source: SIA Annual Report 2005/6).
In addition, the company manages the cargo holds of 96 passenger aircraft operated by Singapore Airlines. These offer 9-23 tonnes of cargo capacity per plane depending on aircraft type.²

Aircraft	Engine	In fleet	Order	Option	Type	Capacity	Registrations
Boeing 747-412	Pratt & Whitney PW4056	14	1	0	MegaArk Freighter		9V-SFA, 9V-SFB, 9V-SFD, 9V-SFF, 9V-SFG, 9V-SFI, 9V-SFJ, 9V-SFK, 9V-SFL, 9V-SFM, 9V-SFN, 9V-SFO, 9V-SFP, 9V-SFQ[11]

References

1. Cargo Quick Reference Timetable - South-East Asian
2. Singapore Airlines Cargo Fleet
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11. Singapore CAA Aircraft Register

External links

★ Singapore Airlines Cargo

★ Singapore Airlines Cargo Fleet Detail

★ Article about the airline's formation

★ Singapore Airlines