Singapore Airlines is the national airline of Singapore. Headquartered at Airline House, its chief hub is located at Singapore's Changi Airport. The airline's first flight, using an Airspeed Consul, took off from the British Straits Settlement of Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, on April 2, 1947. From May 1, 1947 onwards, the airline started plying regular weekly flights from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Penang. The following decade witnessed the rapid expansion of the airline. At that time, the airline was provided technical assistance from British Commonwealth carriers, which included BOAC and Qantas Empire Airways.
It holds the merit of being one among the only four airlines in the world to receive a 5-star rating by Skytrax. Recently, the airline was ranked 33rd in Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies. The airline is the launch customer of the Airbus A380 aircraft, which is popularly called 'superjumbo'. Due to its world-class safety and services to its passengers, the airline is recognized as a prominent brand name in the civil aviation industry. It has managed to maintain a record of consistent profitability, since its inception. The first non-stop air services between Singapore and the USA were started by Singapore Airlines in 2004, when it began plying non-stop trans-Pacific flights, by using the Airbus A340-500 aircraft. The flight from Singapore to Newark is recorded as the longest scheduled commercial flight in the world, with a flying time of 18 hours, each way.
Currently, Singapore Airlines flies to 65 destinations in 35 countries on five continents. The current fleet of the airline consists of 108 aircrafts, namely Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 777-300, Boeing 777-200ER, Boeing 747-400, Airbus A380-800, Airbus A340-500 and Airbus A330-300.