Interview with : Andrew Budiman, Managing Director France Singapore Airlines

Andrew Budiman is the Director of Singapore Airlines in France. He has been in the French capital for just over a year, arriving just as the airline launched its new Economy Premium product in Paris. He tells Voyages d'Affaires what's changing in the Singapore carrier's strategy.

How does Singapore Airlines define itself today compared to previous years?

Andrew Budiman - I think we've evolved in our understanding of the market in general. For years we have favoured what I would call 'hardware'. By this I mean new aircraft, on-board technology, seats, in-cabin entertainment. In short, everything that enables us to offer a product that I would describe as consistent in terms of service. This remains the mantra of our business. Passengers who fly Singapore Airlines know that they will enjoy - regardless of the stopover or the place where they take their plane - a impeccable service and a product consistency. Today, however, we are also working on what I would call 'heart-ware', that touch that comes from each and every one of us and that will add something extra to a travel experience. To sum up, we are focusing more than ever on a personalised relationship with the passenger.

How does this personalisation work in practice? 

A. B. - Of course, we are improving the design of our seats and the ambience of our cabins. But it's not just comfort on board that we're aiming for. We have invested a lot of money in ground servicesThis includes training staff to anticipate customers' wishes and needs and to support them throughout their travel experience. We spend a lot of time understanding what passengers expect, so that we can impress them with our efficiency and seduce them with our Singaporean way of life. Service is the key to success.

We spend a lot of time understanding the passenger's expectations in order to impress them with our efficiency and seduce them with our Singaporean way of life.

Does competition push you to accentuate this excellence in service?

A. B. - This is indeed the case. Competition has intensified, particularly from carriers in the Gulf, who have an undeniable advantage in terms of their geographical position, which enables them to position themselves on the Kangooroo Route linking Europe to Australia, for example. Our response is therefore based on the excellence of our service and the consistent quality of our product.

How is the European market, and France in particular, faring?

A. B. - Europe is a very important market for us, and one in which we need to have a presence, even if it's certainly not the only one.a mature market, with less spectacular growth. Nevertheless, we are continuing to expand with the addition of a number of secondary destinations like Manchester or Düsseldorf, but also partnership agreements. We have code-share agreements with the Lufthansa group - most recently with Swiss - and with SAS Scandinavian Airlines in Europe, which enable us to maximise our revenues. Of course, we always assess our network in terms of the balance between expenditure and revenue. This will mean, for example entry into service of the brand new Airbus A350 on Amsterdam and then on Düsseldorf.

How important is the Singapore-Paris route?

A. B. - We transport more than 260,000 passengers a yearWith a market share of 47% on the Paris-Singapore route and even 48% in business class. We should reach 300,000 passengers in 2016. We offer a daily flight by Airbus A380 in two different configurations of 441 or 375 seats. We estimate that 65% of passengers on the France route are transferring to Singapore, the most important destination markets for us being, in addition to Singapore, Indonesia and Cambodia in South-East Asia as well as Australia and New Zealand. In fact, we should see an increase in demand to Australia and New Zealand with the launch of direct flights to Canberra and Wellington. We are also seeing an increase in demand for flights to Burma, Malaysia and the Philippines.

What's new in France?

A. B. - The main new feature was theintroduction of our Premium Economy class at the beginning of the year. Available on all our flights from Paris, she knows a great success around 60% just after its launch, and I have to say that we're not seeing any major change in the market. no dilution of traffic from Business Class to Premium Economy. We have just launched the Book a Cook" service which allows passengers to order around thirty different dishes, including Asian specialities, up to 48 hours in advance.

We are not seeing any dilution of traffic from Business Class to Premium Economy