The Singapore Airshow might not be the biggest in the world (it’s the 3rd biggest). But you bet that it will receive the biggest ever social media coverage, because we have decided to cover it. Yes, Singapore Airshow is finally on Social Media – in a joint effort by SimpliFlying and Penn Olson. There’s a new Airshow  microsite here with multiple updates each day, and a lot of Twitter-buzz as well. For the unaware, the airshow takes place from Feb 2-7 in Singapore. And here’s what you can expect.Sneak previewsFly-pastPlane previewsExclusive plane tours Candid interviews of trade show attendeesBehind the scenes of CNBC set in the Airshow (not yet confirmed, but we’ll try our best!)And much, much more… What we aim to do is to let you know the latest happenings and how to participate in this once-a-year event on social media! Join in the fun with us and you might just see your pictures and videos featured here. This space is about you and your experience at the Singapore Airshow 2010. Stay tuned on how you can participate and win prizes like …

At the edge of the world, a small airline is pushing the envelope when it comes to doing the right things. This is a hallmark of a brand that is going places, even in times of adversity. If you haven’t already heard, Air New Zealand yesterday revealed a revolutionary flat-bed seat in Economy Class that will re-define the way we travel (Check out Crankyflier’s firsthand coverage here). This prompted a lot of commentary around the world, and I really liked one from Arun Rajagopal (in addition to Cranky’s) with his focus on branding. Arun is a creative supervisor with Wunderman in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. He is an award-winning copywriter, a co-author of the marketing book ‘The Age of Conversation’ and blogs at www.arunrajagopal.com. His interests include airlines, travel, marketing and social media. And here’s how Arun explains Air New Zealand is re-defining the flying experience (first published on his blog) Pic credit: Flickr – source 1. Be bold in your marketing Air New Zealand is not shy of stirring a little turbulence in your …

Webbies 09 – The Shortlist25 Jan’10 || Flightglobal… Best Blog: Judged by Reed Business Information’s head of Blogging, Adam Tinworth and Vice President Cabin Design Office at Airbus, Jonathan Norris. Nominees are: Things In The Sky, Airboy, AirPigz, GreenAir Online, Randy’s Blog, SimpliFlying… read more Social Trippin’22 Jan’10 || Slideshare by Turkish Airlines… The author of SimpliFlying.com, a well respected  and unique airline marketing and branding blog that is well-respected by those in the airline industry and those interested in marketing to travelers. On Twitter, he is one of the Top 5 most “followed” as well as one of the Top 5 most “influential” on airlines. Most recently, Shashank became the youngest awardee of the Global Brand Leadership Award, for his groundbreaking work in airline branding… read more CNBC Live Interview: The End of Japan Airlines?19 Jan’10 || CNBCJapan Airlines, Asia’s biggest carrier in terms of revenue, filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday. Shashank Nigam, founder & CEO of SimpliFlying, has analysis of the company and its outlook… read more Gulf Carriers Pursue India’s Market9 Jan’10 || Aerospace Diary… One analyst monitoring this trend is Shashank Nigam, CEO of Singapore-based SimpliFlying, an airline branding consultancy. He notes that Emirates now leads in number of passengers to the …

As promised at the start of the year, SimpliFlying will be bringing you more Guest Columns from leading aviation practitioners around the world. Our second guest article of the year is written by Oussama Salah, who is an aviation expert based in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Being a Jordanian who flies around the region a lot and works in the sector, he shares with us his thoughts on why the proposed checked-in bag fee by Etihad is not a good idea. —–—–—– “ETIHAD may charge for second piece of luggage” This  was a remark made by James Hogan Etihad’s CEO, otherwise I would have thought it was a joke. Why would an aspiring and highly branded airline with cash flushed owners want to do something like this? Etihad operates in a highly competitive and well connected market, whether it is the UAE, MENA or the Indian subcontinent. The traveling public (both Arabs and Indians) in the region is traditionally price sensitive and is used to weight and not number of bags. It is basically a visit friends and relatives (VFR) market used to carrying gifts and shopping across continents, …

So, we all know that Japan Airlines has filed for bankruptcy, is de-listing from the Nikkei Stock Exchange, will be selling all 30 Boeing 747s, shedding 30% of their staff and has hired a new CEO who used to be a monk. But what is the impact of all this? And where does a potential deal with Delta Airlines and Skyteam fit in the scheme of things? What happens to Oneworld? I answered these questions and more during my Live interview with CNBC’s Worldwide Exchange today. I’m sharing the 5 min interview video below and would love to hear your thoughts on my take. (Click here if you cannot view the video)

I recently flew Singapore Airlines’ First Class for the first time. It was a trans-Pacific flight, so I got to enjoy it for the longest time possible (23hrs!). What an amazing experience it was. Aside from the product aspects, the service was unmatched. A level I had never experienced before, not on SIA’s economy class, and not on any other First Class. This got me thinking…the marginal cost providing an exceptional service nothing compared to that of providing a superior product in a plane. And if such a service could be offered to the masses (in Economy class) for a charge, then it might be a win-win! What a VIP service on Economy class could be like? Great service on-board SIA is something even other airlines talk about (Aeroflot sent their staff to be trained by SIA last year!). But not everything that’s offered on First Class can be duplicated on Economy. So, here’s a quick list of what can and cannot be done: Being addressed by name, all the …

I was at the “HP Future is…” and was inspired to do an article on what the future of air travel would look like in a year. Instead of doing a “Top 10 article” I decided to do a video of what taking a flight in Dec 2010 would be like, with the advent of social media and new technologies, which airline brands can use. On this hypothetical flight, I managed to fly Business Class at a price cheaper than Economy class, on an airline that does low-cost Long haul! I ordered food on Twitter, streamed happenings from the flight Live back home via Wifi and “rented” a power point to plug in my Mac. I was even notified by SMS that my bags are lost and that got a free cab voucher from them for pick-up. All in all, a great improvement over the last one year Enjoy the video! For me, the future is… now. Airline executives need to embrace new technologies NOW in order to take control of …

Is A Low Cost Airline Alliance Possible In Europe? 8 Jan’09 || AirObserver’s Blog … I’d like to quote Simpliflying, whose insight is particularly pertinent especially when we’ve witness such an alliance and with whom I agree. He says that “the most significant difference is the departure from Star Alliance – type marketing or revenue driven alliances. Air Asia and Jetstar have formed a cost alliance… read more   Jetstar and AirAsia join forces 7 Jan’10 || The Straits Times/ Asia News Network … Code-sharing, where a flight operated by one airline is offered as a service by other airlines, could be a prime candidate for cooperation, said Mr Shashank Nigam, chief executive officer of SimpliFlying, an airline branding consultancy headquartered in Singapore… read more   CNBC Live Interview: Analyzing Jetstar-AirAsia Alliance 6 Jan’10 || CNBC The most distinct part about the alliance between Jetstar and AirAsia is that it is cost-driven, notes Shashank Nigam, CEO at SimpliFlying. He analyzes how this deal will benefit both low-cost carriers, with CNBC’s Martin Soong & Sri Jegarajah… Read more   …

As promised at the start of the year, SimpliFlying will be bringing you a new section with video trip reports – mostly shot at 35,000 feet. Because the best assessment of an airline brand can only be done during the Brand eXecution! Here’s the first of such reports. In this 3 min video trip report, I share my experience on-board one of Etihad Airways‘ brand new Airbus A320 planes. This was a flight from Athens, Greece to New Delhi, India, via Abu Dhabi. Three things stood out about Etihad: 1) They greet you by name and talk to you personally2) The planes smell of the desert!3) Their transit lounge for Business Class in Abu Dhabi offers free spa treatments! My rating for the flight is 4.5 out of 5. njoy the 3 min video trip report (Click here if you can’t watch the video) If you haven’t flown Etihad Airways before, I’d encourage you to give it a shot – they’re one of …

Let me say this again. I think Air Asia is one of the most innovative airlines in the world today – right up there with JetBlue, Virgin, Singapore Airlines, Southwest Airlines and LAN Airlines. And today they pulled out a trump card – a joint venture with Australia’s Jetstar Airways. You can keep reading the press releases, but here’s the essence of the agreement and how it will benefit the airlines and their customers (you and I!) What the AirAsia and Jetstar “budget alliance” means The most significant difference is the departure from Star Alliance – type marketing or revenue driven alliances. Air Asia and Jetstar have formed a cost alliance, or what I’d call a “budget alliance” (pun intended). Here is the nitty gritty. The airlines will pursue joint procurement of aircraft – This means that they will be able to leverage economies of scale while buying from Airbus. Joint design specifications – since they’re going to order a lot of planes, they can demand from Airbus things like a twin-aisle A320 or more efficient …