New budget airline Valuair signed a deal yesterday to lease its first two brand-new airbus aircraft. It also announced plans to fly to Jakarta, Bangkok and Hong Kong starting in May 2004. Valuair now has 18 pilots and 42 cabin staff. (Straits Times 26 Feb 2004) (1)

SITUATION UPDATE ON SARS PREVENTIVE MEASURES IN SINGAPORE

Background:

The Ministry of Health reported yesterday on a Taiwanese SARS patient who was in Singapore from 7 Dec 2003 to 10 Dec 2003. The patient was afebrile throughout his three days here. He departed Singapore early in the morning of 10 December 2003, and developed fever only in the evening on the same day following his return to Taiwan.

Contact tracing completed

The Ministry of Health has completed its contact tracing. A total of 276 people have been identified to have come into contact with the Taiwanese SARS patient while he was in Singapore from 7^th to 10^th December. This includes 76 additional contacts who were on flight CI-662 from Singapore to Taiwan on 10 Dec 03 and who had returned to Singapore. They had not been seated close to the Taiwanese patient. They are currently being contacted to ensure that they are well.

The Ministry has contacted the Singaporean man who was on Flight CI-662 and seated in the same area as the Taiwanese SARS patient. The Singaporean man had returned to Singapore but had left the country again. He reported that he is well. MOH has advised him to monitor himself for fever and symptoms and to seek medical attention should he be unwell. MOH has also notified the authorities in that country.

The Ministry has identified another 5 persons to be placed on HQO till 19 Dec. This brings the total number of persons on Home Quarantine Order (HQO) to 75. The rest are on telephone surveillance and are advised to monitor their own temperature and to seek medical attention when they are unwell.

Only 5 contacts are unwell so far. This includes one person who had been placed under home quarantine order. They have been assessed by the Infectious Disease physicians at the Communicable Disease Centre. Although all of them have been diagnosed as non-SARS, as a precautionary measure, they have been admitted to the Communicable Disease Centre.

With the stringent public health measures that are in place, the Ministry would like to assure the public that there is no cause for alarm. The Ministry is monitoring the situation closely and has taken the necessary precautionary measures to prevent the spread of SARS.

The Ministry of Health

18 December 2003

Handpicked police officers have been deployed as air marshals on 'high-risk' Singapore Airlines (SIA) flights since mid-August 2003. Parliament passed a law on 14 Aug 2003 to allow the deployment of marshals on SIA and SilkAir flights. (Straits Times 1 Oct 2003 4)

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has settled a negligence suit brought by SQ006 plane-crash victim Dr Harald Linke, 67, in the United States. The amount awarded remains confidential under the terms of the settlement. (Straits Times 20 Sep 2003 3) 

  Singapore Airlines's (SIA) management will take pay cuts of 22.5 to 27.5 per cent as the carrier copes with the worst crisis in its history and faces its first quarterly loss in the wake of the Sars outbreak. The wage cuts for 240 of the airline's 14,600 staff are expected to save SIA S$12 million a year. (Straits Times 23 May 2003) (H10) 

  Singapore Airlines' in-flight magazine, Silver Kris, will be produced by Times Periodicals, a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), from next month. The magazine had previously been put together by BluInc Media, the former MPH Magazines, since the magazine's inception. (Straits Times 10 Apr 2003)(H6)

  Fifty medics from the Singapore Armed Forces are helping polyclinic nurses to screen passengers who fly into Changi Airport from Sars-affected countries. (Straits Times 10 Apr 2003)(9)

  Changi Airport has been voted the best Asian airport for the 17th consecutive year by readers of industry journal Cargonews Asia. The airport handled 1.64 tonnes of cargo in 2002, an increase of 8.7 per cent over 2001. (Straits Times 20 Mar 2003)(A20)