• 

  Singapore Airlines

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  SQ/SIA

  Airline Type:

  Full Service Carrier

  Hub(s):

  Singapore Changi Airport

  Year Founded:

  1972

  Alliance:

  Star Alliance

  CEO:

  Goh Choon Phong

  Country:

  Singapore

In its June operating results released yesterday, Singapore Airlines described the month as an "exceptionally strong performance." It said the result came from robust demand for air travel during the mid-year holidays and the start of the summer travel season.

Singapore Airlines sets a record load factor of 87.8%

In raw numbers, the Singapore Airlines Group, comprising Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Scoot, carried 1.938 million passengers in June, compared to 132,600 in June 2021. It carried 233,000 more passengers than in May, a gain of 13.7%, with SIA and Scoot growing strongly. As measured by available seat kilometers, group passenger capacity grew a modest 3% from May, resulting in the June load factor reaching a pandemic-era high of 85.5%, which was 69.4% higher than in June 2021. Singapore Airlines posted a record passenger load factor of 87.8%, which seems extraordinary compared to the 17.2% it recorded in June last year. Group passenger capacity has now reached 64% of pre-pandemic levels.

Based on data from ch-aviation.com, Singapore Airlines has around 81% of its fleet of 153 aircraft active, with 29 listed as inactive. The operational passenger aircraft are 51 Airbus A350-900s, seven A350-900ULRs, nine A380-800s, 12 Boeing B737 MAX 8s, six B737-800s, 17 B777-300ERs and 15 B787-10s. It also has seven Boeing B747-400Fs operating its cargo services. SIA carried 1.4 million passengers in June, 10% more than in May, and saw load factors grow in all regions, particularly Europe and the US. The anchor on progress is still the East Asia region, where load factors are around 20% less than almost all other regions.

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Scoot's passenger numbers grew by 27% from May, carrying 531,500 in June. Comparisons to 2020/21 are not all that meaningful, but to illustrate how dire Scoot's predicament was last year, it only carried 17,900 in June 2021. Its load factor continues to edge towards respectability, but at 75%, it is well behind SIA. Scoot did add capacity in June and increased its active fleet to 43 of its total of 60 aircraft. On the active list are 12 Airbus A320-200s, six A320-200neos, eight A321-200neos, nine Boeing B787-8s and eight B787-9s.

As a barometer of SIA's recovery, it's interesting to look at how traffic has rebounded at Singapore Changi Airport (SIN), particularly since restrictions began easing in March. In the three months from March to April 2021, the airport handled 510,000 passenger movements; this year, that jumped to 5.54 million. Aircraft movements went from 24,970 last year to 45,400 this year. The only reversal is that Changi handled 472,000 tonnes of freight in 2021, which fell to 446,000 tonnes this year.

Is the cargo market starting to ease off?

As more of the world's passenger fleet comes back on line, the cargo capacity also rises, particularly where widebodies are concerned. This affected Singapore Airlines in June, where freight capacity grew 41.8% from June 2021, but freight carried grew by only 4.6%, dropping the load factor from 87% to 64% year-on-year. SIA said that easing some pandemic-related lockdowns in China resulted in manufacturing activity picking up during the month, which impacted cargo results.

In June, Scoot launched three times weekly flights from Singapore to Jeju International Airport (CJU) in South Korea, expanding its network to 47 destinations. Overall the SIA Group covers 98 destinations, with 72 of those operated by Singapore Airlines. With the busy summer months approaching are there many in Asia about to head off on a flight?