Travel Destinations

Singapore Airlines has built an impressive list of credentials in the airline industry. The eighth largest carrier in Asia, it ranks sixth in the world for international passengers carried. It is the worlds largest carrier based on market capitalization. Fortune magazine ranked it the 17th most admired company in 2007. Singapore Airlines is known as a trendsetter in safety and service innovation and is consistently profitable.

In’47, airlines started doing business with a chartered flight from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. Shortly after weekly flights were soon listed and planned to Ipoh and Panang. Malayan Airways Limited, which was incorporated by Imperial Airways, Liverpools Ocean Steamship Company and Singapores Strait Steamship Company. Over the next couples of decades the company had really grown. However due to political discrepancies in’72, Singapore Airlines was founded.

The decades of’70s and 80s saw the airlines rapid growth with the addition of destinations like India, Asia, US, Canada and Europe. In the decade of’90, Southern Africa was also added as a destination. SIA first offered a direct flight from the US to Singapore in 2004.

From its primery hub in Sigapore SAI offers 65 destinations in 35 countries. Along with its subsidiary Silk Air, SAI has the privilage of being able to connect more international destinations than any other Southeast Asian airline. Sigapoe Airlines is a member of the Star Alliance and also has codeshare agreementswith SilkAir, Virgin Atlantic, Malasia Airlines, Royal Brunei and Airlines.

Singapore Airlines has 76 planes, and the average age for those planes is under seven years old. Having newer planes is part of their strategy, so they are constantly getting new planes. In fact, in recent years they have spend $570 million improving the cabin and the in-flight service for their passengers.

Unlike any other airline in the world, Singapore’s Airline Suites offer travelers a private area blocked off from other passengers. These compartments have been designed by a world renown luxury yacht designer and are only available on the Airbus A380. They include leather seats and an LCD television along with a bed and various other first class features.

First class comes in three other variations on Singapore Airlines. The New First Class features leather and mahogany seats with LCD TV screens. Seats fold out into a flat bed. First Class SkySuites recline into a bed, offer LCD TV screens, and are upholstered in leather.

Business class offers New Business Class with leather seats that convert to fully flat beds, personal TV screens, in-seat power supply and USB ports. Also in Business lass SpaceBed seats convert into angled flat beds and feature retractable personal televisions. The Ultimo business class seats do not convert into beds.

Economy class seating has footrests, flexible headrests and private television displays. Latest chairs too offer in-seat control. Each class offer World Gourmet Cuisine that characterize areas dishes and common local fare.

Singapore Airlines offers two frequent flyer programs, KrisFlyer and the PPS Club. KrisFlyer miles are earned and redeemed on SAIs services and KrisFlyer partners which include Star Alliance members, SilkAir, Virgin Atlantic, hotels and car hire companies. PPS, Priority Passenger Service value is earned when passengers fly Airlines Suites or Business Class on Singapore Airlines and business class on SilkAir.

Tom Martens is the content syndication coordinator for South Aricas leading Flights comparison portal, which includes Singapore Airlines amongst others.

Mango is in great demand as it is the latest low cost airline in South Africa. It faces heavy competition from some of the established airlines such as 1time and kulula air which are also under the category of low-fare airlines.

Mango is owned by South African Airways, and this is sometimes a point of contention among air travelers and competing airlines. Tired of losing market share to the other low cost carriers, SAA launched Mango offering starting prices for seats that were almost half that of its competition, sparking problems on two fronts.

According to Mango’s reports, 15,000 booking requests were made in the first 10 minutes after the website went live.First, its website, its major base of operations, crashed as eager would-be customers overwhelmed the site to take advantage of the cut rate price.

The airline then faced criticism from rival airlines that were quick to point out that as a subsidiary of SAA, a public governmental company funded by taxpayer dollars, Mango could afford to slash its rates. This led to outcries of unfair trading practices.

In spite of its less-than-stellar beginning, Mango is already reporting healthy profits.

The current routes include: Johannesburg to Cape Town, Cape Town to Johannesburg, Cape Town to Durban, Durban to Cape Town, Bloemfontein to Cape Town and Cape Town to Bloemfontein.

Mango offers some attractive fares called cool-off flights in which passengers pay only R175 (one-way, all inclusive) to fly to Durban or Johannesburg. Available only via its website, vouchers are not acceptable for this special.

The mango fleet is very safe as it is made up of Boeing B737-800. It can carry’6 guests in leather seats and the seats are arranged in two rows of three seats on either side. Travelers are informed about their seating arrangements after they check in and they can also choose the in-flight food service.

If your child is between the ages of 7 days and 24 months, they may ride on the lap of an adult. If your child is over 24 months at the time of their flight back you must get another ticket for that return flight.

Mango also offers accommodations for handicapped or impaired travelers, providing access for several types of wheelchairs. These passengers and those with small children will not be asked to sit in emergency exit rows.

Mango doesn’t allow pets in the cabins on any of its flights. There is the option of transporting your pet in the pressurized cargo hold, but this is subject to availability .

For added flexibility for this group, Mango Plus tickets provide access to a business class lounge, 10 kg extra luggage and vouchers for meals. Customers may choose to pay for tickets by credit card, by Edgars account (adds approximately R40), cash, voucher, or POLi – internet banking and debit cards.Mango offers Mango Flex tickets which allow ticket holders to change the date, time and destinations of their tickets. These features apply to travel during the week, not weekend flights. Business travelers are the main participants in this program.

Mango has partnered with several other companies to offer additional discounts and conveniences. Tempest SIXT, a low-cost car hire company, offers deeper discounts for Mango customers. A partnership with Edcon gives Mango customers the option to use store credit cards to pay for their tickets. And Vodacom credit card holders can save up to 25 percent when they purchase Mango tickets on their Voadacom card.

Tom Martens is the content syndication coordinator for South Arica’s leading Flight comparison portal, which includes Mango Airlines amongst others.