Ways Singaporean airlines can explore to increase revenue during the pandemic

Report by : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA

Singaporean airlines have been hit hard by the pandemic. Are there ways that these carriers can explore in increasing their revenue during the hard times?

Here, StayGate suggests options for the Singaporean airlines (Singapore Airlines, SilkAir, Scoot and Jetstar Asia):

1. Convert passenger aircraft into cargo operational aircraft. 

Although this idea is not new to Singapore Airlines that has operated charter flights under the World Food Programme (WFP), ensuring food supplies to communities in destinations the aircraft fly to, consider if these flights are regularly scheduled and profitable. More passenger aircraft may be converted into cargo planes to increase cargo volumes and yields. These aircraft can be deployed on passenger routes so as to reduce the number of pilots not operating the aircraft.

Take cue from Korean Air, that has so far profited from operating regular cargo flights using passenger aircraft. According to The Jakarta Post, the airline’s freight ton kilometer, which measures freight traffic, rose by over 10 percent in the first half of the year, and 17 percent in the second quarter alone. It led to a 95 percent on-year increase in cargo revenue worth 1.225 trillion won in the second quarter. 

2. Consider selling tickets for sky sight-seeing flights to short-distance cities without landing at the destination airports. 

This idea is inspired by Starlux Airlines' debut sky sight-seeing A321neo charter flight JX8888 past Diaoyutai. JX8888 carrying Starlux Airlines' fans and staff departed from Taoyuan on 16 August 2020 at 11.04 am, flew past Diaoyutai and returned to Taoyuan at 2.37 pm on the same day. According to Starlux Airlines,  permission was granted by Japan civil aviation authority to fly near the island before returning to Taoyuan airport. Although Diaoyutai is located in the Taipei flight information zone, Japan is included in the air defense identification zone.

Singaporean airlines can consider selling tickets for sky sight-seeing flights to ASEAN capitals such as Bangkok, Hanoi, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta without landing in the airports that are far away from the capitals. There will be a big demand for such flights since quarantine is not required for sky sight-seeing flights.

3. Conduct scheduled airport aircraft sight-seeing trips.

Instead of restricting aircraft-spotting activity at Terminal 1, Singaporean airlines can explore charging users the right at scheduled timings to shoot aircraft pictures outside the terminals within the airport grounds when the aircraft are on the ground during daytime to boost domestic tourism.  Currently, there is no separate aircraft observation deck in Changi Airport. It is also not allowed to take photographs of aircraft flying immediately above the roads outside the airport terminals.

4. Open inflight duty-free shops such as KrisShop and Jetstar Shop as online shops that sell common goods marked with the airlines' logoes to compete with major online shops such as Lazada and ebay. Air hostesses can be roped in to sell products on online auditions, in the absence of flight and anti-epidemic duties. 

Many customers are loyal fans of airlines in Singapore and airline collectible items are big business on ebay and Yahoo! Airline fans will not mind buying products online bearing the airlines' logoes  and aircraft such as aircraft models, polo-shirts and stationery including aircraft postcards and inflight magazines. Currently, KrisShop sells 70 per cent expensive luxury goods that are not in demand in the Singapore market such as wine and spirits, leather bags and knives.

5. Related to Number 4, airlines can consider recruiting the unemployed or partner companies to produce and sell Personal Protection Equipments (PPEs), surgical face marks and sanitizers bearing the airlines' logoes that are permitted on flights from Singapore.

6. Look at ways SATS Catering can sell inflight food of airlines to the public through online shops. This idea is inspired by THAI Catering, the catering subsidiary of Thai Airways International.

THAI Catering, to stem losses as a result of the grounding of Thai Airways' flights, has resorted to packing and selling online the usual inflight food of Korean, Japanese, Chinese, French, Indian and Arabic routes to the Thailand public since July 2020. The inflight food items are sold to the public via online platforms Lineman and Grabfood.

Thinking of innovative ways to generate revenue instead of relying on bailouts and waiting for government fund assistance can alleviate the airlines' financial pain during the pandemic.

Refs:

Aviation Circle, Taiwan Starlux Airlines CEO piloted aircraft and flew around Diaoyudao? Authorities responded,  http://www.minhangshi.com/m/h5/detail/8615073

Yim Hyun-su, The Korea Herald, How major South Korean airlines made profits during pandemic, reproduced by The Jakarta Post, https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/08/14/how-major-south-korean-airlines-made-profits-during-pandemic.html

CARNOC Star, Convenience stores sell airlines' inflight food, airlines think of ways to rescue themselves, http://www.minhangshi.com/m/h5/detail/8615465