SILKAIR WELCOMES THE NEW BOEING 737 MAX 8 TO NORTHERN AUSTRALIA
MAX 8 brings a new joy of flying to passengers with enhanced comfort
SilkAir, the regional wing of Singapore Airlines, today celebrated the arrival of its new aircraft, the Boeing 737 MAX 8 into Cairns. The newest aircraft to join the SilkAir fleet, the MAX 8 offers customers an enhanced on-board experience and new cabin products, ensuring a comfortable and pleasant flight.
The new aircraft was welcomed to the city with a water cannon arrival, and travelling guests were treated to a celebratory breakfast at the gate.
SilkAir is the first airline to operate the MAX 8 aircraft to Australia, with the aircraft touching down for its inaugural flight to Darwin yesterday.
The Airline took delivery of the first of 37 MAX 8 aircraft it has on firm order in October last year, which marked a significant milestone in its journey towards expanding its network to bring customers to inspiring destinations across Asia and beyond.
Commenting on the MAX 8 arrival, Mr. Foo Chai Woo, Chief Executive of SilkAir said, "We are thrilled to be welcoming the new Boeing 737 MAX 8 to the SilkAir family. The new MAX 8 enables us to offer customers access to new and exciting destinations and paves the way for a new phase of growth. With the aircraft entering into service, we look forward to inviting customers on-board to enjoy the quality experience that the MAX 8 offers."
The MAX 8 aircraft is fitted with a total of 156 seats, with 12 Business Class and 144 Economy Class seats. Customers will be greeted by a refreshed cabin look and feel, with the MAX 8’s Boeing Sky Interior featuring modern sculpted sidewalls and window reveals to provide a sense of spaciousness, as well as LED lighting designed to create a more relaxing atmosphere on-board.
The Business Class cabin features thoughtful refinements such as enhanced personal space through increased seat pitch and additional seat recline for added comfort. The new seats also feature a convenient side pocket for easily accessible personal storage, as well as a USB and in-seat power supply to keep devices fully charged throughout the flight. To top off the experience, customers can also pre-select their main meal from a range of 20 options on SilkAir’s All Time Favourites menu and indulge in gourmet coffee from world-renowned illycaffè, brewed freshly on-board.
Economy Class seats have also been refined and showcase a sleeker and more ergonomic design. To increase comfort and convenience, seats in Economy Class are fitted with seat-back tablet and phone holders and personal in-seat USB charging ports.
Customers on-board the MAX 8 can also enjoy uninterrupted, hands-free comfort when using the Airline’s signature in-flight entertainment service, SilkAir Studio. The service allows customers to stream a range of entertainment options to their own device, including more than 100 exciting blockbuster hits, Hollywood and international movies, 40 television shows as well as chart-topping music.
SilkAir began services to Cairns in 2015, starting with a thrice-weekly circular routing to Singapore via Darwin. The service has now grown to five-times weekly non-stop flights from Cairns to Singapore, with all flights to soon be operated by the new MAX 8 aircraft. SilkAir has taken delivery of three MAX 8s as of end of last year, with an additional 34 on firm order, with the aircraft being deployed to longer haul destinations in the Airline’s network such as Darwin, Hiroshima, Kathmandu and Hyderabad.
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About SilkAir
As the regional wing of Singapore Airlines, SilkAir operates the Singapore Airlines Group's narrowbody fleet and extends the Group network by seeding and developing new, exciting destinations in Asia Pacific.
The airline took to the skies in February 1989 as Tradewinds the Airline, before evolving into SilkAir in 1992. In its early days, the airline catered to customers holidaying in exotic destinations in the region, including Phuket and Tioman. As the carrier developed, regional business destinations such as Phnom Penh, Yangon and Kuala Lumpur were added.
Today, the full service airline operates about 400 weekly flights to 53 destinations in 16 countries out of its home base of Singapore. Recent additions to the network include Colombo (Apr 2017) and Hiroshima in October 2017. The airline currently has a fleet of 33 aircraft, comprising 3 Airbus A319s, 10 Airbus 320s, 17 Boeing 737-800s and 3 Boeing 737 MAX 8.