
Singapore Airlines said its group’s passenger traffic (measured in revenue passenger-kilometres) grew on the back of a calibrated increase in passenger capacity (measured in available seat-kilometres) over the past 12 months, which saw SIA Group’s passenger capacity rise to around 27 percent of pre-COVID-19 levels by May 2021. Passenger load factor (PLF) for the month increased 5.7 percentage points year-on-year to 14.3 percent.
At the end of May, the full-service network which includes both wide-body and narrow-body operations, covered 49 destinations including Singapore. Scoot, SIA’s low-cost carrier subsidiary, served 24 destinations (including Singapore) as at end of May. This followed the reinstatement of flights to Athens, Kuala Lumpur, Manado and two destinations in the Philippines (Clark and Cebu) while operations to West Asia remained suspended.
SIA Cargo registered a monthly cargo load factor (CLF) of 87.7 percent, which was 12.8 percentage points higher year-on-year, as cargo traffic (measured in freight tonne-kilometres) rose by 72.9 percent on the back of a capacity expansion of 47.7 percent. All route regions recorded year-on-year increases in CLF during the month.
SIA said in May that it posted a net loss of S$4.27 billion (US$3.19 billion) for the financial year ended March 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on international aviation. The airline said group passenger traffic (measured in revenue passenger-kilometres) shrank 97.9 percent in the financial year ended 31 March 2021 from a year before and that group revenue fell by S$12 billion or 76.1 percent year-on-year to S$3.816 billion due to the plunge in passenger flown revenue across Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and Scoot – the three passenger airlines within the group. This was partially offset by higher cargo flown revenue, which rose by S$758 million or 38.8 percent year-on-year to S$2.709 billion.