SilkAir brand dropped, ad created to bid farewell

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has integrated its SilkAir brand into its parent airline. In a Facebook post, SilkAir bid farewell to its consumers through an ad while announcing the integration of the two airlines. The 15-second ad featured one of SilkAir's cabin crew personnel changing her attire from the iconic teal-coloured uniform to SIA's batik-printed kebaya uniform. The ad is accompanied with a narration that said: "SilkAir's journey continues as Singapore Airlines, so you can enjoy world-class service, no matter how short your journey."

The ad was posted on both its Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube channel. It has since garnered 220 reactions and mostly encouraging comments. Netizens showed their support with many saying how much they will miss travelling with SilkAir.

According to SIA, the integration of SilkAir will start begin on 4 March, with SilkAir's routes "progressively transferred". The full integration of SilkAir into Singapore Airlines is scheduled for completion in the 2021 or 2022 financial year. The move will offer customers greater consistency in product and service across the SIA Group, SIA said. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to SIA for additional information.

"Integrating SilkAir with SIA also allows us to be nimble and flexible in aircraft deployment, and supports our fleet and network growth strategy,” Goh Choon Phong, CEO of Singapore Airlines said in a press release.

Yesterday, SIA reported a SG$142 million loss in the third quarter of 2020, following continued border controls and travel restrictions in many countries due to COVID-19. According to its financial report, SIA's group revenue fell SG$3,404 million (a decrease of 76.1%) year-on-year to SG$1,067 million during the third quarter, as all three passenger airlines within the Group recorded a sharp drop in passenger flown revenue due to low traffic. SIA's loss was partially offset by improvements in cargo flown revenue. In response to the continued strong demand for pharmaceutical and eCommerce shipments, and an uptick in general cargo demand, SIA said it added capacity by stepping up the frequency of passenger aircraft operating cargo-only flights and through the resumption of more passenger services. 

Over the years, SilkAir's ads often takes on a soothing and personable approach. In November 2018, its launched an ad titled "Discover what makes every journey with SilkAir, a joy to fly" that followed a little girl's journey as she took a SilkAir flight with her mother while travelling. The ad also had a calming song which was played in the background. Before the brand was folded under Singapore Airlines in 2018, SilkAir worked with Y&R (before its merger with VML) on its creative works, and Burson Cohn & Wolfe for its PR efforts.

Launched in 1989, SilkAir was first known as Tradewinds the Airline before being renamed in 1992. The change marked the carrier’s evolution from a holiday resort airline to a full-fledged regional carrier. As the regional wing of SIA, it focused on holiday destinations in Southeast Asia, before expanding across Asia to a full-fledged, full-service regional carrier. 

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