W.K. Lim, Singapore Airlines regional vice president Americas

On March 20, 2008, Singapore Airlines launched its first flight from Houston to Moscow, linking for the first time the capital of the American oil industry directly with Russia. The luxurious interior design of Singapore Airlines aircrafts together with a high level of professionalism and a genuine friendliness of the crew, make for an unforgettable transatlantic journey. Russian-American Business editors discussed the new flight with Singapore Airlines vice president for the Americas W.K. Lim.  

– Mr. Lim, Singapore Airlines became the first service connecting Houston and Moscow. What is the strategic importance of this flight for Singapore Airlines?

– Singapore Airlines has maintained its sales presence in Houston for the last thirty year. We are very excited to launch this direct flight to Moscow because it represents an important milestone for air travel between the United States and Russia.

In the past, passengers from the Houston and surrounding areas had to connect via our U.S. gateways on the West and the East coasts.  Now, we provide direct services from South Central US. Apart from providing the convenience for our passengers, there are also now more travel options available on Singapore Airlines.

Singapore Airlines is glad to pioneer this route. We now operate four flights each week on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. Flight SQ61 leaves George Bush International airport at 11:45 PM. The plane lands at the Domodedovo airport in Moscow. 

– What sparked the airline’s interest towards this Moscow route?

– Of course, Singapore Airline flies to many different international destinations from the U.S. In selecting new prospective and promising routes we consider a number of factors, including the availability of resources, the demand, and the ownership of traffic rights. These three components must all fall into place when our corporate office makes a decision to initiate a new service. Singapore Airlines headquarters work hand-in-hand with the regional and sales offices to indentify prospective destinations.

With Russia’s rapidly-expanding economy and intense business activity, particularly in the oil sector, it seemed logical to bridge Texas and Moscow directly. Texas is America’s oil and gas capital.          

– The Boeing 777 craft that Singapore uses for flights to Russia is much different from all of its predecessors first and foremost in the way of its interior design. Every seat is equipped with a television screen and a KrisWorld entertainment device. Does Singapore Airlines use the same types of planes on all of its international flights, or is this something that the air company did especially for its flight through Moscow

– We provide exclusively high-quality service to our customers. Singapore Airlines uses the most modern KrisWorld entertainment system on board of its aircrafts, providing over one thousand different entertainment possibilities. There are close to 900 movie, television, and music options, as well as about 130 games. The system also has all office applications for spreadsheets, presentations, and word-processing that can be used even without a personal notebook computer.   

On our Boeing B777-300ER aircrafts, the seats are very spacious. Business class has 30-inch-wide seats, while the seat width for first class passengers is 35 inches.

Naturally, Singapore Airlines does not use the same airplanes for all its flights. For some of our international connections, we utilize Airbus 345. Soon, we’ll convert the seat configuration on all those aircrafts to be exclusively business class. We also were the first air company in the world to start using the double-deck Airbus 380 crafts for commercial flights.   

– What cuisine predominates on your flights – is it American, Singapore, or maybe Russian?

– We have a mix of the different types of foods, a very wide selection. Our business class passengers have the option of specifying at what time their meal should be delivered, whether it is right away, in three hours, or in five hours. Flexible meal times also available to our first-class passengers.    

– Singapore Airlines has a reputation of being one of the best airlines as far as customer care and satisfaction go. What is your guiding principle in servicing your clients? Do you know of any particular happy-customer stories?

– At Singapore Airlines, we treasure customer loyalty. We provide services from within. The people are pleasantly surprised with the professionalism of our members that go out of their way to help passengers.

The second element as far as satisfaction is concerned is consistency. We place a very high emphasis on crew training, so that these people could professionally perform their services. Singapore Airlines also has regular checkers that evaluate the level of services provided to our clients.    

In the area of safety, all of our crew members are very well-trained. Our employees go through regular training programs. At the training center in Singapore, we have an Olympic-size swimming pool with a full-scale model of an aircraft placed on its edge. This allows us to imitate a water landing.

Altogether, our flights carry eighteen million passengers a year. Conde Nast Traveler magazine named Singapore Airlines as “Worlds Best International Airline” for nineteen of the past twenty years. We’ve also been named the best airline 11 times by Travel & Leisure magazine.       

– Is it true that the oil industry is one of your primary target audiences for this Houston-Moscow flight?

– We actually look at multiple markets for this flight. First, there are the businesspeople and the professionals that travel in our first and business classes. Second, the tourists and leisure travelers that go to Russia usually travel in economy class. Of course, some leisure travelers also do travel on our upper cabin classes.  This category of travelers is just as important for us as our corporate clients.

Additionally, many people that go on this flight to Singapore through Moscow, continue to other destinations, such as Vietnam or India. Singapore Airlines has an extensive network in Asia for our passengers on this service.      

– Genuine businesspeople, who are always pressed for time, often have to continue working even aboard airplanes. What does Singapore Airlines offer its business class passengers? How does it make their work more enjoyable?

– From my experience, while some businesspeople want to work during the flight and get things done, there are others that want to have total peace. Either way, our seats in the upper class cabins are the most spacious in the industry, providing comfort and luxury for our passengers.

As for business solutions, as I already noted, even economy-class passengers can access office applications.     

– Mr. Lim, how did you yourself become interested in aviation, and what path did your career follow?

– I have been with Singapore Airline for twenty years already. The company very firmly believes in training its employees. When I started, I went through nine-months of management cadetship training. I had to do everything – I had to work at different departments of the company. I even did passenger check-ins at the airport. Throughout my career, I received many oversea postings and was working abroad. I was Singapore Airlines’ country manager for Belgium and for Luxembourg. The first time I came to the U.S. was fifteen years ago.

My connection with Singapore Airlines started when I was still studying at the university. I was doing a research thesis and studied the operations of that company for about a year. After I finished and graduated, Singapore Airlines asked me if I wanted to apply for a position with the company.    

– What has the air company done so far to promote and publicize this new travel route?

– We had wonderful ceremonies to mark the launch of the flight in Houston, Moscow, and Singapore. Houston mayor Bill White proclaimed March 20, 2008 the Singapore Airlines day. On March 13, more than 250 people attended a gala reception and dinner at the Corinthian Hall in downtown Houston. Consul General of the Russian Federation in Houston Nikolai Sofinskiy, as well as representatives from a number of our partner agencies and corporate clients, came to the event.

On March 20, celebrations began at the George Bush International airport with Russian dances and traditional lion dance performances. In the evening, passengers departing on the inaugural SQ61 flights were treated to Singapore delights.     

As a follow up to these initial events, we conducted presentations at the Consumer Fair at Houston’s Woodlands Mall to increase ticket sales. We need to increase the people’s awareness of the kind of travel arrangements we offer. I am sure that this flight from Houston to Moscow has a good future.