Singapore Airlines Doubles Down on the E-Commerce Trend by Carriers
Skift Take
The superapp is where it's at in Asia, so it's not a surprise to see Singapore's flag carrier broaden its e-commerce playbook. Yet looking worldwide, it's remarkable how many airlines are now going direct-to-consumer in selling non-flight products and services.
Singapore Airlines has quietly rolled out a digital e-commerce subsidiary called Pelago in recent months. While the subsidiary only has a staff of 50 today, it reflects a broader trend of airlines trying to use their brand names and customer bases to stretch into the online sales of other products and services.
In November, Singapore Airlines [SIA] CEO Choon Phong Goh described Pelago during an investor call as "a brand new business that's been set up within SIA" with a goal of "extending the SIA experience from the skies to the ground."
The subsidiary's CEO, Siddharth Shanker, has hired dozens of content producers to build a trip planning service that currently focuses on experiences and activities. After a beta product launch in October 2020 and continued produc
