Soaring demand sends Singapore Airlines back to black
Singapore Airlines, the world’s second largest airline by market value, has posted stronger than expected quarterly profits on the back of resurgent passenger and freight demand.
SIA registered a first-quarter profit of SG$253m (US$184.7m) for the three months between April and June, comfortably ahead of analyst expectations and compared with a loss of SG$307m for the same period a year ago.
The recovery came despite the volcanic ash cloud that forced the widespread closure of European airspace in April. SIA put the losses due to the crisis at SG$50m.
Passenger numbers rose by 5.5 percent in the quarter, while the amount of cargo space filled rose from 60.6 percent a year ago to 65 percent. Revenue rose to SG$3.47 billion for the quarter from SG$2.87 billion a year earlier, whilst expenditure nudged up from SG$3.22 billion from SG$3.19 billion.
Singapore Airlines flew 4 million passengers last quarter, up from 3.8 million a year earlier.
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SIA said the rebound would continue till at least the end of the year.
SIA said in a statement: “Advance bookings indicate that the year-on-year recovery in passenger carriage and yields evident in the quarter to June will hold up for the rest of 2010.”
Singapore Airlines was voted “World’s Leading Airline” at the 2008 World Travel Awards.