On any given flight, safety information is absolutely the most boring part of all. Cynics and jaded passengers, certainly, would find plenty of reasons to ignore it. When disasters have a happy ending, it usually has very little to do with fastening seat belts and more with extraordinarily gifted pilots, like Chesley B. Sullenberger, of the “Miracle on the Hudson” fame.
Yet Singapore Airlines has pulled a small yet remarkable feat. Its in-flight safety video has become a hit on YouTube, Facebook and social media. It is beautiful to behold and it takes passengers (and viewers, generally) on a visual tour of Singaporean landmarks, including the Boat Quay and the Gardens by the Bay.
The clip is the result of a happy marriage between the airline and the Singapore Tourism Board. Advertising agency TBWA created it. Over three years of partnership, Singapore Airlines and the tourism agency will jointly invest 10 million Singapore dollars in marketing, travel technology and related expenses.
This take on in-flight safety information is not original. Elleanor Dickinson, at Mumbrella Asia, tells us that Qatar Airways introduced it in 2016, featuring Barcelona FC players. Qantas also turned the safety information clip into a tourism ad for Australia.
What’s interesting is that Singapore Airlines, as well as Qatar Airways and Qantas, back up their words and images with deeds. At a time of sometimes appalling service, all three usually rank high in customer satisfaction surveys. Indeed, Qatar topped the 2017 World Airlines Awards, followed by Singapore.