Under the Radar: (SPECIALS) What is Singapore Airline’s golden playbook for the future? (feat. Chief Commercial Officer Lee Lik Hsin and NUS MBA Programmes Vice-Dean Professor Jochen Wirtz)
Description
Today we’re going to welcome you aboard Singapore Airlines as it reaches out to greater skies in a fast changing business environment.
Founded some 50 years ago through the demerger of the Malaysia-Singapore Airlines in 1972, SIA has evolved into one of the most recognised and respected travel brands globally.
The Singapore flag carrier and its low cost subsidiary Scoot now fly to over 120 destinations, and operates the world’s longest non-stop flight – a 19-hour ride from Singapore to New York City.
SIA has long been presented in business schools as a textbook example of “cost-effective service excellence”, combining premium service with rigorous efficiency to deliver profitability and brand prestige.
But how is this playbook evolving as SIA navigates an intensifying competitive landscape?
For one thing, the ongoing US-China trade war, Middle East tensions and oil price volatility continue to weigh on airlines such as SIA.
At the same time, Gulf carriers appear to have grown in prominence on long-haul flows and now capture sizable shares on some key city pairs, given the Middle East’s status as a gateway to Europe.
To stay ahead, SIA appears to be re-engineering parts of its product and network. In 2024, SIA said it will spend S$1.1 billion to retrofit 41 Airbus A350-900 long-haul and ultra-long-range aircraft with newer cabin products.
There were also adjustments to mileage redemption policies in 2025, which prompted conversations among customers and industry watchers. So how does the airline distill the changes into a single, condensed strategy for the future?
Professor Jochen Wirtz, Vice Dean of MBA Programmes and Professor of Marketing at the National University of Singapore has been studying the firm for over two decades, writing extensively about how the firm manages the tension between achieving product differentiation and cost leadership.
And Lee Lik Hsin, is Chief Commercial Officer at Singapore Airlines.
In this “In the Community” Special episode of Under the Radar, the duo share their thoughts with Money Matters’ finance presenter Chua Tian Tian.
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