Singapore Airlines: how a split from Malaysia produced a five-star flag carrier
Singapore Airlines began life in 1947 as Malayan Airways, flying from Kallang to Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Penang. After Singapore and Malaysia went separate ways, a 1972 division gave the island its own carrier, which went on to launch the Airbus A380 and be named the world's best airline by Skytrax six times.
The shared company had become Malaysia–Singapore Airlines in 1966, but strategic differences led the two governments to carve up its assets. Singapore's half kept the international routes out of Paya Lebar and the sarong kebaya cabin uniform designed by Pierre Balmain. Its stylised bird logo has barely changed since, apart from a small tweak in 1987, while the keris motif inherited from Malayan Airways lives on in names like KrisFlyer, KrisWorld and the SilverKris lounges.
Unlike rivals that advertise planes and seats, the airline built its image around its cabin crew, above all the Singapore Girl. It was first to fly the A380, in 2007, and the Boeing 787-10, the first operator of the ultra-long-range A350-900, and a pioneer of marathon non-stops from Changi to New York's JFK. Fortune's 2026 list of the World's Most Admired Companies placed it 24th across every industry and top among airlines. It joined Star Alliance in April 2000.
Temasek Holdings, the state investment company, held 55% of the voting shares as of 31 March 2020, and the Ministry of Finance keeps a golden share. Officials have stressed they stay out of management; Lee Kuan Yew once said Changi's standing as a hub mattered more than the airline itself. Even so, he personally helped calm a dispute with pilots in the early 2000s, told the company to trim costs and publicly urged it to sell off subsidiaries. Head office is Airline House, a converted hangar at Changi.
The group now spans more than 20 subsidiaries, including SIA Engineering, which does maintenance work in nine countries, a cargo arm and the budget carrier Scoot. After a November 2022 agreement with Tata, its Indian venture Vistara was folded into Air India on 12 November 2024, leaving Singapore Airlines with 25.1% of the combined airline. That same month it warned that delivery delays would leave it five aircraft short, with 204 jets by the end of the 2024 fiscal year.
Source: Singapore Airlines
