06 Jun 2012
SilkAir, the regional wing of Singapore Airlines, yesterday has its first flight to the picturesque and culturally rich city of Hanoi, capital of Vietnam. This new service will offer Australian travellers even more choices to Vietnam, with Singapore Airlines and SilkAir offering a total of 10 services a week between Singapore and Hanoi.
The inaugural flight MI 654 departed Singapore Changi Airport at 1515 hours and landed in Hanoi at 1735 hours. The return flight, MI 653 took off from Hanoi at 1815 hours and reached Singapore at 2230 hours last night (all times local).
Hanoi is SilkAir's second destination in Vietnam, after Danang. The thrice-weekly flights depart out of Singapore on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays with same day return flights from Hanoi. The services will be operated with Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft, both featuring business and economy class cabins.
To mark this special occasion, passengers on the first flight out of Singapore were presented with a gift of candied lotus seeds, a specialty from Hanoi. Passengers travelling on the first flight out of Hanoi were given exclusively produced SilkAir notebooks. All passengers also received inaugural flight certificates signed personally by SilkAir's Chief Executive, Mr. Marvin Tan, and Commander of the flight, Captain John Lee.
"We are delighted to be adding Hanoi to our network and expanding our presence in Vietnam. The capital city of Vietnam has much to offer to the intrepid traveller, with contemporary fine-dining restaurants, upscale bars, modern art galleries and eclectic designer boutiques thriving against a rich backdrop of ancient temples, Chinese merchant townhouses and scenic lakes," said Mr. Tan.
He added, "With our flights complementing Singapore Airlines' daily service to Hanoi, the additional services will also offer our customers enhanced connectivity to the 96 international cities in 37 countries in the joint Singapore Airlines-SilkAir network."
Hanoi's launch comes right after SilkAir's other launches to Darwin on 26 March 2012 and Wuhan, China on 24 April 2012.
Customers interested in booking and viewing fares for flights to and from Hanoi can visit www.silkair.com.
About SilkAir
A full-service premium airline, SilkAir currently flies to 41 destinations across 12 countries and is the regional wing of Singapore Airlines. Earlier this year, SilkAir was awarded the Changi Airline Awards 2012 by Changi Airport Group for being among the Top 10 Airlines by Passenger Carriage (3rd ranking). In 2011, the airline was awarded Best Regional Airline 2011 by CAPA - the Centre for Aviation. SilkAir was also ranked 2nd in the Best Regional Airline (Asia) category in the 2011 Skytrax World Airline Awards. In 2010, the airline was inducted into TTG Asia's Travel Hall of Fame following its 10th win as Best Regional Airline in the TTG Travel Awards 2009. SilkAir was also ranked among the Top 10 Airlines for Best Cabin Service Worldwide 2011, 2010 and 2009 by Hong Kong-based online travel magazine, Smart Travel Asia. For more details visit www.silkair.com. SilkAir is also now on Facebook. Follow us at www.facebook.com/SilkAir.
For further information please contact:
Bryony Duncan-Smith
Singapore Airlines
Tel: 02 9350 0210
Mob: 0407 708 470
Bryony_DuncanSmith@singaporeair.com.sg
Jemma Lee - Account Manager, Liquid Ideas for Singapore Airlines
P 02 9667 4211
M 0438 285 545
