More scope for passengers flying with Singapore Airlines

An aviation deal has been agreed between Singapore and the UK.

This new deal will allow Singapore Airlines to pick passengers up from Britain and carry them elsewhere including the US. This will be the same for British carriers in Singapore.

The deal has been described by Singapore as "more liberal" than other agreements and will give the scope for airlines from different nations to operate the same as domestic carriers.

This isn't such a strange concept to Singapore as they already have a similar arrangement with United Arab Emirates. For Britain it's a first.

"This is indeed a trail-blazing agreement concluded between two forward-looking countries that share a common objective of promoting free competition," said Singapore's transport minister Raymond Lim.

We will start to see these changes from March 2008.

Singapore Airlines wants rid of Virgin Atlantic stake.

Singapore Airlines is considering selling its stake in Virgin Atlantic, which could result in an STGI billion (STG1 = RM6.92) sale.

Singapore Airlines has the biggest stock market value and is said to only be in the early stages of considering options for its 49 per cent stake.

A spokesman declined to comment for SIA while Virgin Atlantic couldn’t be reached for comment.

Corrine Png commented that the sale of the VA stake would be welcomed but may not actually be worth all that is being reported.

"We view this potential exit strategy positively as VA has not contributed significantly to SIA's bottom line nor network connectivity in the past seven years, even though SIA paid a large sum for the stake," she said in a note to investors.

Png later went on to say that SIA would also book a “bumper disposal gain” if the share could be sold for at least STG950 million.

Jobs onboard Quantas Airline jets for prisoners!

Prisoners from Changi Prison in Singapore appear to have new jobs, cleaning Quantas’s aircraft.

A union member stated that the prisoners have been hired to clean the aircraft’s flight deck.

A member of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association Steve Purvinas said, "The prisoners are released under supervision and taken to the Qantas aircraft,"

"The prisoners are used to wash down the wheel well bays before inspections, they're used to go upstairs into the flight deck of the aircraft and to clean the area out so it's ready for inspection by the local engineers."

The prison in Singapore is renowned for housing some of the most serious offenders including those who have been given the death penalty.

Unsurprisingly Quantas have yet to comment.