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"Thanks for the memories, StarHub Lightship!"

- StarHub ends successful Lightship flights and takes branding campaign to a higher plane -

 

Singapore, 1 November 2002 - "Big balloon!" "UFO!" "Hot air balloon!".

 

You can call it by any other name, but there is no doubt that at one point in time, you would have caught the StarHub Lightship sailing the Singapore skies. The StarHub Lightship can be seen making its rounds whether you are driving on the KJE, strolling along the Esplanade, sun-tanning at Sentosa, lounging in the rooms of the Ritz-Carlton, or simply near its present mooring site at Pasir Panjang.

 

However, if you do chance upon the StarHub Lightship these days, do take your time to pause, look up and wave, then bid a fond farewell to it.

 

The StarHub Lightship, a familiar icon in the Singapore skies, will cease operating after 3 November 2002. StarHub’s contract with Lightship Asia Pacific, the company that operates the Lightship, will end on that day.

 

"StarHub has deliberately looked for opportunities to challenge the norm in making the Singapore infocommunications market more dynamic. The Lightship helped us light up the evening sky while we livened up the market. There is no other advertising platform in Singapore that could have provided the exposure we needed in such a short time," said Ms Jeannie Ong, Assistant Vice President, Corporate Communications, StarHub.

 

As the first   airship ever to fly in the Asia-Pacific region (except Australia), the StarHub Lightship, a Singapore first, has been a unique advertising platform. It was a novel way to showcase the StarHub name when the company first broke into the infocommunications market in April 2000. The StarHub Lightship made its maiden flight from Seletar Airbase to Marina City Park on 4 August 2000.

 

It is noteworthy that the StarHub Lightship team has trained the first Singaporean ever as its lightship pilot. More recently, another highlight of the StarHub Lightship took place during the National Day Parade 2002. For the first time in Singapore’s National Day celebrations, Mediacorp Studios used the StarHub Lightship for aerial filming during the preview as well as the actual parade this year. (Please see below for more "StarHub Lightship Trivia".)

 

Graduating students and bridal couples who were looking for a special or scenic background to take their photos also found themselves another unique choice in the StarHub Lightship. Many made their way to the StarHub Lightship when it was at its previous mooring site at Marina South to capture their all-important graduation and wedding photos.

 

"We are very pleased with the amount of exposure we have garnered, and using this unique branding medium lends testimony to StarHub’s practice of challenging the norm and being innovative. Feedback from the public has been very positive, and judging from the responses we have had from them, the StarHub Lightship has certainly served its purpose in heightening awareness, excitement, and positive mindshare amongst the public," added Ms Ong.

 

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StarHub Lightship Trivia

Did you know…

  • the StarHub Lightship has sailed the Singapore skies for more than 3,300 hours and travelled 21,000 kilometres? (That’s equivalent to the distance of going from Singapore to South Africa and back… six times over!)
  • that close to a thousand StarHub VIP passengers have had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take a ride on the StarHub Lightship?
  • that for the first time in Singapore’s National Day celebrations, the StarHub Lightship was used for aerial filming for the 37th National Day in 2002?
  • that StarHub has received requests from members of the public asking to propose to their girlfriends on board the Lightship? (Unfortunately, we limit the rides to only selected StarHub VIPs, and therefore do not accede to such requests.)
  • the StarHub Lightship contains enough helium to fill 96,000 party balloons and can lift up to 454 kg (including fuel, passengers and gondola structure)?
  • the StarHub Lightship is "lighter than air"? Inflated with helium, it can be lifted off the ground using one finger! (It weighs 1318 kg un-inflated.)
  • the StarHub Lightship team has trained the first Singaporean ever as its lightship pilot?
  • the StarHub Lightship is 40 metres long, 14 metres high, has a top speed of 55 mph and can fly as high as 10,000 feet?
  • the StarHub Lightship is called a Lightship because it illuminates at night, just like a giant lantern, and has even been mistaken for an Unidentified Flying Object when it flies at night?
  • the StarHub Lightship’s envelope is made from a unique type of nylon which is incredibly strong yet allows light to shine through (light is provided by two 1,000 watt light bulbs inside the Lightship’s main body)?
  • the parts of the StarHub Lightship were manufactured in Portland, Oregon in the USA and then freighted to Singapore where it took 16 licensed aviation engineers one week to construct in a hangar at Seletar Air Base?
  • the StarHub Lightship requires a full-time team of 13 staff to maintain and operate, including commercial pilots and licensed aviation engineers?