The three month old stand-off between travel agents and Singapore Airlines on the zero commission issue shows no signs of abating. Both sides have tried to negotiate but remain apart. If anything, the dispute has entrenched both sides in to their respective stands even further.

In the latest move to pressure the Singapore national carrier, Indian travel agents will send one hundred thousand e-mails tomorrow April 1, to the Singapore Prime Minister Mr. Lee Hsien Loong, and flood his e-mail box to draw his attention to the on-going dispute.

IATA Agents Associates of India (IAAI) President Biji Eapen says

"One lakh e-mails will be sent to the Singapore Prime Minister, , by all IATA travel agencies on April 1. And this is not going to be an April Fool joke. We want to make the Prime Minister aware of the issue as well as seek his intervention in resolving the issue,"

"We have made every effort to make Singapore Airlines understand the issue in perspective and restore the agency commission like domestic air-carriers have done, but to no avail, hence the operation,"

In a move to widen the protest, the travel agents also plan to send 5,000 e-mails every day to the Indian operations heads of the 14 overseas airlines operating in India, who have resorted to zero per cent commission.

I am not sure, and I invite comments from experienced e-mail system administrators, will one hundred thousand e-mails be seen as a "Denial of Service" (DOS) attack, especially tomorrow when the Win32.Conficker worm is expected to go off, putting everyone on maximum alert.

For a background and all articles on this issue click here.

Singapore Airlines has put out a release and FAQ giving their side of the dispute.

A passenger on Qantas flight QF032 from London to Singapore, went berserk, on Wednesday, after being caught smoking in the toilet as per news reports from Australia and Singapore.

Believed to be in his 40s, the man set off a smoke alarm in the toilet of the plane. When the Qantas cabin crew tried to restrain him, he ran amok, yelling and kicking walls.

Cabin crew had to bind the burly passenger's hands and tie him to the chair after he managed to break free of their restraints.

He continued to yell and kick the walls during the rest of the QF32 flight to Singapore.

The man was placed in the custody of Singapore police when the flight arrived at Changi Airport earlier this morning.

Singapore Airlines is making further adjustments to its route network, primarily cutting back flights to various destinations in India, Thailand, Europe, and USA, while increasing capacities to the middle east.

The changes, will take place progressively from now and will apply for the rest of the Northern Winter schedule (i.e. till end-March 2009), and will most likely continue in to the Summer schedule.

India
Hyderabad-Singapore services SQ439 and SQ438 will be reduced from four to three times weekly, with the suspension of the Saturday service from 21 February. Service will operate on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

New Delhi-Singapore services SQ405 and SQ406 will be reduced from a six times weekly service, to five times weekly service, from 10 March to 24 March 2009, as flights on Tuesdays during this period will be suspended.

Mumbai-Singapore services SQ421 and SQ422 will be progressively reduced from five to four times weekly services, starting 27 February 2009. Flights on Fridays will be suspended.

Thailand
Bangkok-Singapore services SQ972 and SQ975 will be suspended from 2 February until the end of the Northern Winter Schedule bringing Singapore Airlines capacity to 25 flights weekly.

USA
Newark-Singapore and Los Angeles-Singapore non-stop services performed by the Airbus A340-500; frequency will reduce by two flights to five weekly flights on each route. The Tuesday and Wednesday services, will be suspended.

Ironically, Thai Airways, who has been unable to find a buyer for its suspended A340-500 aircraft, is resuming Bangkok-USA non-stop services.

Europe
United Kingdom
London Heathrow-Singapore services SQ308 and SQ319 will be suspended on Mondays and Thursdays between 9 and 23 March 2009. Total frequency on the Singapore-London route will reduce from 21 to 19 flights per week.

Switzerland
Zurich-Singapore services SQ342 and SQ341 will be reduced from daily to five times weekly, from 9 March 2009. Total frequency on the Singapore-Zurich route will reduce from 14 to 12 flights per week.

Middle East
Kuwait and Abu Dhabi
Singapore Airlines will commence four times weekly services to Kuwait, via Abu Dhabi, from 15 March 2009, with the introduction of SQ458 and SQ457 on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Singapore Airlines will continue its existing three times weekly service to Abu Dhabi. With the addition of the Kuwait service, Abu Dhabi will become a daily service.

Egypt
Cairo-Singapore services SQ492 and SQ493 will increase from thrice weekly to four times a week from 12 March. The Cairo flights will operate via Dubai, thus increasing frequency between Singapore and Dubai to 16 per week.

In its Summer 2009 time-table, effective March 29, Singapore Airlines will revert back to servicing Bangalore Singapore with the Boeing 777-300, an upgrade from the existing Boeing 777-200.

The slowdown in the global economy caused significant impact in the Information Technology sector, which constitutes a bulk of Bangalore's international traffic. In response Singapore Airlines had downgraded services from a daily Boeing 777-300 to a Boeing 777-200, and suspended its 3 times a week morning flights.

It appears, the airline is re-testing the waters progressively, by first re-introducing the higher capacity aircraft on a daily night service and may consider re-introducing the morning flight if market conditions significantly improve.

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300 seat map
Unfortunately, these aircraft will not be the 777-300ERs featuring Singapore Airline's super spacious new Business class nor the upgraded First class, in the 1-2-1 configuration, and will not feature the lie-flat seats in either of the premium classes. The Business Class is in a 2-3-2 configuration and the First is in a 2-2-2.

The Bangalore Singapore flight is identical to the classic "red-eye" west coast flights in the US. Leaving Bangalore close to midnight and arriving at daybreak in Singapore. Since it is just under four hours in duration, sleep is at a premium. Most premium class passengers put their seats back and try grab some sleep as soon as the flight is airborne.

The regular seating on these 777-300s is geared for day flights, and just does not provide for desperately needed sleep. I hope some of Singapore Airline's senior management read this post and decide to put in aircraft with lie-flat seats.

It will be a hit, especially considering that Malaysia Airlines will be downgrading the Bangalore-Kuala Lumpur service to a Boeing 737-800 by June, and Thai Airways will continue with its old Airbus A300-600.

Update 1 - January 22
As per the latest update Singapore Airlines will revert back to a Boeing 777-200 from May 18th. What a pity.

Singapore Airlines will introduce the the Airbus A380 super-jumbo, on its Singapore-Paris route from June 1, 2009 .

Using the A380 in precisely the manner Airbus intended, i.e. lower frequency with a ultra-large aircraft, Singapore Airlines will cut down the frequency from the current 10 a week Boeing 777-300ER flights to a daily Airbus A380 flight.

Paris will be Singapore Airline's fourth A380 destination, its first in Continental Europe. Singapore Airlines already flies the A380 daily to Sydney and Tokyo, and twice daily to London.

The Singapore A380 is configured with 471 seats, in a three class configuration, and is considered to have one of the finest cabins in the world, especially its award winning Singapore Airline Suites, not to mention the world famous in-flight service.

The ergonomically designed new Economy Class seats maximises knee and legroom, and boast intelligent features such as a non-intrusive reading light and height adjustable leather headrests with side panels.

The Business Class seats are even amongst the widest in the sky. Measuring 86 centimetres (34 inches), each seat has direct access to the aisle, and converts into a fully flat bed within seconds.

The A380 also features the revolutionary Singapore Airlines Suites, a new and luxurious class of travel. Each Suite, enclosed by sliding doors for privacy, is fitted with a leather-upholstered seat, a 23-inch LCD screen for inflight entertainment, and a full-sized flat bed that is separate from the seat.

Across all three classes, KrisWorld, the world’s most comprehensive inflight entertainment system, offers more than 1,000 on-demand options in every seat.

Singapore Airlines currently has six A380s in service, a further 13 on firm order, and options on six more. The introduction of the A380 on the Paris route will follow the delivery of the seventh and eighth A380s in the first half of 2009. By this time, Air France, the European launch customer of the A380, too will receive its first A380.

Till that time, London Heathrow will remain the only airport in the world to have A380 services from all the A380 operators, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, and QANTAS.

SQ334 will depart Singapore Changi T3 from June 1, 2009, at 2340 and arrive Paris CDG next morning 0655.

SQ333 depart Paris CDG from June 2, 2009, at 1225 and arrive Singapore Changi T3 next morning 0655.

Singapore Airlines A380 Cabin Layout and Seat Map (Click on image for larger picture)

Singapore Airlines is reducing operations from Singapore to Mumbai and New Delhi, while Dragonair is cutting back on its Hong Kong Bangalore route.

Singapore - Mumbai
SQ422/SQ423, service is reduced from a daily to five a week (Daily except Tuesday and Thrursday) from February 9, 2009. Service operates with a Boeing 777-200.

Overall frequency to Mumbai reduced to 12 weekly from 14 weekly.

Singapore - Delhi
SQ406/SQ407, service reduced from a daily to six a week, operating Daily except Tuesday from February 6, 2009 to March 2, 2009. From March 3, 2009, service will operate Daily except Wednesday. Service operates with a Boeing 777-200

Overall frequency reduced to 13 weekly

Dragonair is reducing its Hong Kong - Bangalore service is reducing from a daily to five a week, operating daily except Thursday and Sunday, between February 9, 2009 and March 7, 2009. Service operates with an Airbus A330-300.

I forwarded my "eureka" moment to Dr. Vijay Mallya about servicing the Kangaroo route via Mumbai, given the imminent withdrawal of Qantas from the Mumbai-Sydney route.

He very kind replied, and my thanks to him.

Dear Mr. Agarwal,

Thank you for your email of 6 January, for your good wishes and compliments on the launch of our international operations. I am pleased to know that you are a member of King Club and that you are frequent traveler with Kingfisher Airlines.

I acknowledge your suggestion that Kingfisher Airlines should operate flights between London Heathrow, Singapore and Sydney via Mumbai and appreciate your insightful inputs. I would like to share with you that the network planning team is indeed looking at establishing the best possible network internationally, by efficiently utilizing our fleet of aircraft, in order to make the convenience and delight of flying Kingfisher Airlines available to our overseas guests.

I thank you once again for your patronage of Kingfisher Airlines and look forward to the continued pleasure of welcoming you on board our flights.

Cheers,

Dr. Vijay Mallya
Chairman & CEO
Kingfisher Airlines
A UB Group Company

But then, I came across this article in the Mint newspaper and my heart sunk.

Kingfisher postpones launch of two flights

The airline, which had started taking Hong Kong and Singapore flight booking in December, is refunding passengers or transferring them to other flights

New Delhi: India’s second largest carrier by passengers flown, Kingfisher Airlines Ltd has postponed plans to start flights to Hong Kong and Singapore from Mumbai this week, and is refunding customers or transferring them to other airlines.

Despite an economic slowdown and slowing passenger demand, the airline run by liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya had planned to launch a daily flight to Hong Kong starting on Monday and to Singapore on Friday, as part of its overseas expansion plan.

“Kingfisher will not start operating at Hong Kong International Airport on 12 January,” said Cathy Cheung, a spokeswoman for the Airport Authority Hong Kong, without giving details. The airline earlier this month pulled the flights off the ticketing system, said an executive at an online travel portal who did not want to be named. “They have postponed them indefinitely without giving any reason,” the executive said.

The airline, which had started taking Hong Kong and Singapore flight booking in December, is refunding passengers or transferring them to other flights. Kingfisher Airlines flies to London from Bangalore and Mumbai using up to three of the five wide-body Airbus SAS-made A330 aircraft that it took delivery of last year. At least two other A330 aircraft grounded at Mumbai and Bangalore airports since late last year would have been put to use with the addition of the two new international routes.

A Kingfisher Airlines executive, who didn’t want to be named, said the airline may finally launch flights on those routes in mid-February after its flights using Airbus A320 planes to Dubai and Colombo take off. One reason for the delay was a glitch in the in-flight entertainment system, this executive said.

Singapore’s Changi Airport said it could not confirm any dates for Kingfisher’s flights yet. “We are always in discussion with prospective airlines,” said Constanze Chia, spokeswoman for the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, “and we will announce the commencement of new airlines at Changi Airport at the appropriate time when plans are finalized.” Flights from Chennai and Bangalore to Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital, are expected to start on 19 January and the Bangalore-Dubai flight from 8 February, Mint reported earlier. Kingfisher Airlines operates about 442 flights a day with a fleet of 87 aircraft.

Given the high lease rentals for the wide-body A330 aircraft, the airline has little choice but to fly them, said an analyst. Each Airbus A330 costs around $10 million (Rs 48.6 crore) in annual lease rental. “The three aircraft they have on ground will be utilized; perhaps sooner. You cannot afford to keep three A330s on ground,” said Kapil Kaul, India head for the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.

Cancelling a much publicised launch due to the in-flight entertainment system ?!?!?!? Naaaahh!!!!!!

I am afraid, Kingfisher is loosing credibility with this on-again, off-again, approach.

Getting passengers on the ultra-competitive Mumbai-Hong Kong and Mumbai-Singapore routes is not easy, even more so, when you are competing head on with Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines. While the lease rentals cost $10 million, flying the aircraft with less than break-even passenger loads would be even more expensive. Now that the peak Christmas-New Year rush is over, passenger numbers will dwindle drastically, and could be one of the reasons for the withdrawal.

Update - January 6. It never struck me, when posting the original article, but based on the timings, Kingfisher can offer passengers, connection between Singapore and London via Mumbai. Further, if Kingfisher can streamline its current Bangalore London operations with better slots at Heathrow, it need only one Airbus A330 instead of the current two. It can deploy that aircraft on a Mumbai-Singapore-Sydney route, since Qantas is reportedly withdrawing its Mumbai - Sydney service. An added benefit for Kingfisher will be to offer a complete Kangaroo route.

Original Article - January 4.
Kingfisher Airlines will launch a slew of international services to London, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Colombo, through the month of January, starting tomorrow.

Mumbai, India - London Heathrow, United Kingdom
On 5th January, Kingfisher will commence its second international flight, on the Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport - London Heathrow sector. Kingfisher's only existing international service is also to London Heathrow, from Bangalore, launched in September 2008.

Kingfisher will deploy its new VT-VJx series Airbus A330-200 aircraft on this route, in a two class configuration. The Kingfisher First features full flat seats with massage, touch-screen controls, full size pillows and merino wool blankets. Both classes features an in-flight entertainment system.

IT7 will depart Mumbai 13:50 and arrive London Heathrow Terminal 4 at 17:55.
IT8 will depart London Heathrow 20:30 and arrive Mumbai at 11:00 the next day.

Mumbai, India - Hong Kong, SAR
Kingfisher has scheduled operations, on the Mumbai - Hong Kong sector, to commence from January 12, 2009, using the Airbus A330-200 VT-VJx series.

IT31 will depart Mumbai 00:15 and arrive Hong Kong at 08:45.
IT32 will depart Hong Kong at 14:00 and arrive Mumbai at 17:30.

Mumbai, India - Singapore
Kingfisher has scheduled operations, on the Mumbai - Singapore sector, to commence from January 16, 2009, using the same Airbus A330-200 VT-VJx series.

IT21 will depart Mumbai 23:40 and arrive Singapore at 07:40 the next day.
IT22 will depart Singapore 09:20 and arrive Mumbai at 12:10.

Bangalore and Chennai, India - Colombo, Sri Lanka
Kingfisher has scheduled operations, on the Bangalore - Colombo and Chennai - Colombo sectors, to commence from January 19, 2009, using the narrow body Airbus A320 aircraft.

IT61 will depart Chennai 07:15 and arrive Colombo at 08:15.
IT62 will depart Colombo 17:30 and arrive Chennai at 18:30.

IT63 will depart Bangalore 15:00 and arrive Colombo at 16:20.
IT64 will depart Colombo 09:15 and arrive Bangalore at 10:30.

With the exception of the Singapore flights, I am concerned at the amount of time, the aircraft are spending at the destinations. Airplanes on the ground, only cost, not earn, money,

For more details visit the Kingfisher Airlines' website. Click here to download the schedules in Excel format.

Congrats to Kingfisher for finally ramping up the international show.

Jet Airways has announced a basket of special deals on its international flights. Remember all fares mentioned herein are exclusive of surcharge and taxes.

Mumbai/Delhi/Chennai/Kolkata – Singapore/Hong Kong/Bangkok

Companion Free Offer on Premiére (business class)
Jet Airways’ international Premiére customers travelling to Singapore and Hong Kong can now avail of exciting Companion Free travel offers.

A Mumbai – Singapore Premiére return fare is available for two persons travelling together for a sum of INR 1,01,250. Hong Kong is INR 94,500, Bangkok is INR 57,065.

Jet also has Delhi – Bangkok, Delhi - Singapore, Chennai - Singapore, Chennai – Kuala Lumpur, and Kolkata – Bangkok sectors.

Special offers for individual travel
Premiére class return fare of INR 54,000 for Mumbai - Hong Kong.

Economy class return fare of INR 7,480 for travel between Mumbai – Singapore, INR 12,635 for Mumbai – Singapore, INR 9,750 Mumbai - Bangkok.

Mumbai/Delhi – London Heathrow

Special offers for individual travel
India and London Heathrow, a special return Premiére fare of INR 85,000 for a 14 day Advance Purchase or APEX. Economy class fares start at INR 15,990.

Double JPMiles
Jet Airways JetPrivilege members travelling on Mumbai/Delhi - London return sectors can earn Double JPMiles until January 15, 2009. This is applicable on First Class, Premiére and Economy class travel.

Mumbai – New York (Newark / JFK)

Special offer for individual travel
Mumbai - New York (Newark / JFK) Economy class return fare of INR 32,600.

For further information and sales and travel validity, customers may visit www.jetairways.com, or contact their nearest travel agent, or call the reservations number (city code) 3989-3333, or call Toll free on 1800-22-55-22.

Airbus A330-343E, F-WWKZ, CN 978, pictured here in the cold grey skies of Toulouse, France, will soon be heading to the lush tropical city-state of Singapore, as 9V-STA, and joining the fleet of Singapore Airlines, who will become the newest operator of the Airbus A330 aircraft.

Singapore Airlines will introduce its new Airbus A330-300, powered by Rolls Royce Trent 700 engines, in a mid-range regional aircraft, positioning, replacing the existing Boeing B777's, on routes to Australian and Japanese cities, progressively from end March 2009.

SQ A330 Seat Map
The aircraft will be configured with 285 seats in a two class configuration. 30 Raffles Class (Business Class) in a 2-2-2 abreast layout, and 255 in a 2-4-2 layout. The new cabin features will be revealed in January, but the aircraft does feature a new Business Class seat, specially designed for regional and medium-haul flights. All seats will feature the new KrisWorld, Singapore Airlines award-winning in-flight entertainment system.

The first of 19 new A330-300s will be delivered to Singapore Airlines by Airbus in mid-January. Initially, the aircraft will be used to complete pilot conversion, and thereafter, operate some short sectors between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore and Jakarta, during late February and March, to fine tune the crews and operations, but these cities will not continue with the A330's.

Singapore Airlines will use the A330's initially to select Australian cities (Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide) and then add Japan (Nagoya and Osaka).

Singapore Airlines will induct the A330's into commercial service on March 30, 2009, with an inaugural service to Brisbane, which marks the 25th anniversary of the commencement of Singapore Airlines services between Singapore and Brisbane.

The planned deployment of the A330-300 is:

End March 2009
Brisbane, SQ245/246, SQ235/236, daily
Brisbane, SQ255/256, 5 flights per week

April 2009
Perth, SQ224/225, 5 fights per week

May 2009
Perth, SQ223/226, SQ215/216, daily

June 2009
Adelaide, SQ268/269, daily
Nagoya, SQ671/672, daily

Then a long break till March 2010
Osaka, SQ617/618, daily

For more information visit the Singapore Airlines website.

Singapore Airlines has issued a flight alert for its Christchurch Singapore services.

Apparently Christchurch airport is currently providing only limited supplies of jet fuel to airlines as a result of a fuel supply problem. This problem is affecting all airlines operating from Christchurch.

As a result, Singapore Airlines is unable to uplift sufficient fuel each day to allow for its Christchurch – Singapore flight to operate non-stop.

SQ298, departing from Christchurch will make a short refueling stop in Brisbane, en route to Singapore, from 19 to 24 December (both dates inclusive).

On these days, the arrival into Singapore of SQ298 will be about two hours later than originally scheduled.

The departure time from Christchurch remains at 1150 hrs - the new arrival time into Singapore is 1915 hrs. (All times are local).

Singapore Airlines will launch its inaugural flight to Riyadh on Sunday, 14 December 2008.

SQ454 will depart Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2 at 1250hrs.
Arrival at Riyadh King Khalid International Airport Terminal 1 at 1820hrs (all times local).

SQ453 – will depart from Riyadh at 2015hrs,
Arrival at Singapore Changi Airport at 1105hrs the next day.

Both legs of the flight will operate via Dubai, UAE.

Singapore Airlines will use a Boeing 777-200 aircraft in a three class configuration. Click for seat map.

Travel times (in hours:minutes)
Singapore-Dubai 07:35
Layover 01:00
Dubai–Riyadh 01:55
Total 10:30

Customers on this new service can look forward to a variety of delightful dining choices. Customers traveling in First Class can try the Mutton in coriander gravy, a specially created dish by world-renowned chef Sanjeev Kapoor, a member of Singapore Airlines’ International Culinary Panel. Customers in all classes may also choose dishes from Singapore Airlines’ Popular Local Fare programme, including the famous Singapore chicken rice, among others.

Riyadh is the second city in Saudi Arabia to which Singapore Airlines operates, after Jeddah. The Airline will maintain its current three-times-weekly services to Jeddah, via Abu Dhabi.