SINGAPORE AIRLINES BECOMES FIRST AIRLINE TO OFFER GLOBAL ALERT SERVICE VIA SMS

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has achieved another “world first” by becoming the first airline to offer customers global flight alerts via the short message service (SMS).

The launch of global flight alerts via SMS is part of SIA’s service strategy to help customers stay connected, wherever they are in the world. The service, which informs customers of changes to flight departure and arrival times, is a key element of SIA Mobile Services, a suite of facilities that provides more ways of obtaining information on the Airline and its services.

SIA first introduced the flight alert service in July 2000. Although all customers worldwide could receive e-mail alerts from the start, only registered subscribers of Singapore-based telecommunications companies could receive SMS alerts via their mobile phones or message pagers.

With this latest development, all customers have a choice of being notified by e-mail or SMS, wherever they are in the world.

Said Mr Yap Kim Wah, SIA’s Senior Vice President (Products & Services): “The airline industry is all about mobility. Our customers are spread throughout the world and are always on the move. As a global airline, we cannot afford to restrict our value-added services to just Singapore. We must ensure that our customers can access our services wherever they are, whichever telecommunications company they use, and whatever network they belong to.”

Registration for the service is available at SIA’s new website at www.singaporeair.com

When registering, customers can state the flight for which they wish to receive alerts, the time they wish to be alerted, and their phone or pager number. Each customer can request alerts for up to three flights, and for each flight, up to seven alerts at different time intervals.

Unimobile, a US-based wireless data service provider, was engaged to handle the messaging aspect of the service. Unimobile operates a cross-carrier delivery network that spans all of the world’s major networks.

While the flight alert service is the most popular of SIA’s suite of mobile services, customers can obtain a wide range of other information, including flight schedules, flight status, promotions and fares, a world directory of SIA offices, and KrisFlyer membership services.

In the coming months, SIA plans to add PPS Club information, KrisFlyer account services and mobile check-in.