Singapore Airlines *Official* (SGX:C6L)

Jirachi

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Thanks to Temasek Holdings for consecutively taking up the Big Sweep.

Last but not least, thanks to those who have participated in this coveted fund-raising exercise.
Looking forward to next participation, if any.

#WeAreInThisTogether
#MakeSIAGreatAgain
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AlDki6V.jpg
Are the hashtags satire? :ROFLMAO:
 

edwinttt1978

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No wonder. Talk-burst-disappointment. Air bubble has become a taboo.

#MakeSIAGreatAgain
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Excerpts of interview:

MARTIN SOONG: The idea of an air travel bubble. What more can you tell us? How close is Singapore to setting up an air travel bubble and with which localities?

LAWRENCE WONG: Well, I try to refrain from talking about bubbles, Martin, because each time we talk about it, it gets burst and then we all start getting disappointed...


https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/16/sin...ce-wong-at-the-cnbc-evolve-global-summit.html
 

lzydata

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so the chairman and ceo got taken up the MCB this round?

Yes, they took up part of their entitlement, from the SGX announcements dated 25 June and also there was a Business Times article.

Chairman Peter Seah - 150,000 MCB
CEO Goh Choon Phong - 500,000 MCB
 

Jirachi

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Shion

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Singapore Airlines aims for regional dominance as rivals pull back​


https://www.channelnewsasia.com/new...airlines-aims-for-regional-dominance-15179118
Singapore Airlines (SIA), flush with US$16 billion (S$21.6 billion) raised since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to help from Temasek Holdings, is in a position of dominance among its Southeast Asian rivals as they downsize and restructure.

The crisis threatened the survival of hub carriers that lack domestic markets such as SIA, Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways and Dubai's Emirates. Indeed, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong last year said the government would "spare no effort" to ensure SIA made it through the pandemic.

Its majority shareholder, government-owned investment arm Temasek Holdings underwrote one of the world's biggest airline rescue packages. Thanks to that, SIA has enough funds to keep going for at least two more years without cuts, and is modernising its fleet to save fuel, reduce maintenance costs and meet environmental goals while other airlines shed aircraft.

"The crisis shows the importance of having a cash-rich state investor as its main backer," said a banker, who was not authorised to speak with media and spoke anonymously.

SIA's cash pile is the envy of rivals like Thai Airways and Garuda Indonesia, which have received little government support. Many of SIA's rivals are trimming fleets to a level that could ultimately weaken their hubs and send more connecting traffic to Singapore.

"Basically what these airlines are trying to do is they are trying to ward off their debtors," said Subhas Menon, director general of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines.

SIA, meanwhile, is improving its fleet and bolstering its budget carrier, Scoot. In Europe and North America, leisure travel has led a recovery; if that holds true in Asia, budget carriers will be crucial for airlines.

Having culled older planes and cut 20 per cent of staff last year, SIA is under less immediate pressure for more downsizing. CEO Goh Choon Phong in May described last year's job cuts as a "very painful process" and said that there were no plans for more.

But analysts say it could take 12 to 18 months for widespread travel to resume in Asia.

"They can survive for two or three years without making any money," CAPA Centre for Aviation chairman emeritus Peter Harbison said. "But at a certain stage you say: 'Is it really worth it? Shouldn't you take tough steps?'"

Less than 9 per cent of rights sold in SIA's recent S$6.2 billion convertible bond issue went to shareholders other than Temasek, showing the state investor is more patient than others about achieving returns.

MODERN FLEET

SIA deferred S$4 billion of spending on new planes over three years after reaching agreements with manufacturers Airbus and Boeing.

But because of large pre-crisis orders, it is still spending S$3.7 billion on new aircraft and adding at least 19 planes to its fleet this year, including 13 wide-bodies, despite little demand.

By contrast, Germany's larger Lufthansa, which earned nearly four times as much revenue annually pre-pandemic, has a capital spending budget of about €1.5 billion (US$1.77 billion) for 2021.

SIA's financial cushioning makes it harder to push back on contracts with manufacturers and lessors. Temasek supports fleet modernisation.

BUDGET ADVANTAGE

With travel in a holding pattern and rivals distracted by financial issues, Scoot has been using some of SIA's cash to boost staff training and invest in new software that helps it calculate more profitable fares for connecting flights.

"There has been a lot of investment, which is certainly geared toward a future recovery," Scoot CEO Campbell Wilson said. "Those investments I hope will pay off as time passes."

Thai Airways lost significant market share to budget rivals in the decade before the pandemic, contributing to years of losses, and has yet to formulate a fresh low-cost strategy as part of a restructuring involving US$12.9 billion of debt.

Garuda, Malaysia Airlines and Philippine Airlines are in similar positions, either having completed or about to launch major restructurings. They lost money for years before the pandemic.

"Presumably in shedding their liabilities they will create some unhappy people who were owed money that was never paid," Wilson said. "The extent to which that subsequently constrains them, time will tell."
 

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SIA, Scoot crew return to the skies as tentative recovery from Covid-19 continues​


https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...-to-the-skies-as-tentative-recovery-continues
SINGAPORE - Nine in 10 Singapore Airlines Group pilots and eight in 10 cabin crew are back in the skies, flying at least once a month.

This is a far cry from the hours they were clocking before Covid-19 brought the aviation sector to its knees, but the fact that many are back in their uniforms offers some hope things are slowly but surely recovering.

Analysts, however, stressed that the immediate future will remain gloomy.

About 2,200 pilots - about 90 per cent of the total number - are now flying at least once a month. This comprises pilots from SIA and the group's budget arm Scoot.

About 6,500 cabin crew, or eight in 10, are also doing at least one flight a month.

The SIA Group disclosed the figures to The Straits Times, but did not say what the lowest point was, in terms of active flight crew, citing commercial sensitivities.

In SIA Group's previous update on crew numbers last August, it said then it had more than 3,200 pilots and almost 11,000 cabin crew.

Meanwhile, Jetstar Asia, Singapore's other local airline, said about 50 per cent of its pilots and cabin crew are back at work.

The budget carrier had grounded its entire fleet of 18 Airbus 320s at its lowest point of the pandemic in March last year.

A spokesman for the SIA Group said: "In general, the average number of flying hours for our pilots and cabin crew has been increasing in tandem with the calibrated growth in the SIA Group's passenger capacity."

He added that the frequency of flights for the crew vary from month to month.

The crew members' return to work comes as SIA and Scoot continue to make gradual steps towards recovery.

For example, SIA has resumed its Tokyo-Los Angeles service and started a new Copenhagen-Rome service.

Scoot will resume flights to Berlin via Athens from Aug 10, with three flights weekly. It said the move will let it tap summer holiday demand between Germany and Greece, given that intra-Europe border measures have eased.

But despite these announcements, passenger numbers and flights are still significantly fewer than what they were before the Covid-19 pandemic.

SIA Group is expected to reach about 33 per cent of its pre-Covid-19 passenger capacity by the end of this month, up from 28 per cent last month.

The number of passengers are significantly lower, with the figure in June (133,000) at just 3.8 per cent of the levels it was in December 2019, before Covid-19 struck.

A Jetstar Asia spokesman said that the carrier has resumed flying to nine destinations, which has seen six aircraft reactivated and more crew return to work.

"We (will) continue to review our fleet and crew in response to changing demand," she said.

But analysts have said that airlines in Singapore are unlikely to experience a significant recovery soon.

Borders have remained largely closed and there is no domestic demand for the airlines to fall back on.

Independent aviation analyst Brendan Sobie from Sobie Aviation said: "The outlook for the third quarter remains dismal with no increase in traffic from the levels of recent months.

"Passenger traffic is likely to remain at 3 per cent of pre-Covid-19 levels until the start of the recovery phase."

Mr Sobie said there could be slight improvements in the fourth quarter if borders start to reopen.

"We are not likely to see a significant increase in traffic until 2022," he added.

One destination that has however given airlines some cause for optimism is the Thai holiday hot spot Phuket.

It has introduced a Phuket sandbox - a model that will allow vaccinated travellers to visit without quarantine.

SIA told ST that it has seen strong interest from some of its key long-haul markets from Europe in its flights to Phuket, but declined to provide specific figures.

It has also increased its Phuket services from twice weekly to twice daily since July 19.

Ms JoAnn Tan, senior vice-president of marketing planning at SIA, said: "The easing of restrictions for vaccinated travellers to Phuket is a welcome sign of optimism for the recovery of international travel."

Jetstar Asia announced this month that it will operate two weekly services from Singapore to Phuket from Sept 3.

Mr Sobie said that the Phuket reopening, while encouraging, will not be significant in boosting SIA Group's and Jetstar Asia's traffic.

Mr Mayur Patel, head of Asia at flight data and analytics provider OAG Aviation, said: "(The sandbox) is just an experiment and cannot be expanded much further."

He added that the problem is not a matter of a lack of demand or airlines being unable to offer flights, but the lack of clarity around long-term plans to open up.

But he said that all three local carriers will recover over time.

"They are well supported and cash reserves are sufficient for the carriers to continue operations," said Mr Patel.

"The fastest to recover should be Jetstar Asia and Scoot since these are essentially low-cost airlines operating to shorter-haul destinations with local market demand... they do not need connecting traffic."
 

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SIA's net loss narrows by 63.6% to $409 million in 1QFY22​


https://www.theedgesingapore.com/capital/results/sias-net-loss-narrows-636-409-million-1qfy22
Singapore’s national airline, Singapore Airlines (SIA) has reported net losses of $409 million for 1QFY22 ended June 30. This is a 63.6% or $714 million improvement from the $1,123 million loss it had posted the year before.

The losses come as border controls and travel restrictions remained largely in place in the first quarter of the year, despite the heightened rate of Covid-19 vaccinations that were being administered in Singapore and other key markets the group operates in.

Still the improved performance follows a 52.2% y-o-y jump in revenue to $1,295 million due to an increase in both passenger and cargo flights.

The group’s passenger traffic – which is measured in revenue passenger-kilometers – rose to 28% of pre-Covid-19 levels by end June following calibrated increase in passenger capacity.

This translated to a 4.6 percentage point increase in the passenger load factor for 1QFY22 to 14.8% on a y-o-y basis.

Meanwhile, cargo revenue was up 32.4% to $214 million, as the slow resumption in passenger flights saw an increase in cargo capacity (+46.9%) and load carried (+68.2%).

Overall, the cargo load factor was up 11.3 percentage points to 89.1% in 1QFY22, while yields moderated from the exceptionally high levels seen during the same period last year.

This reflects healthy demand fundamentals and an ongoing capacity crunch in the sector, SIA notes in its results filing on July 29.

The airline ended the quarter with 115 passenger aircraft and seven freighters in operation. Its low-cost budget airline Scoot, had an operating fleet of 49 passenger aircraft.

The company’s passenger network covered 63 destinations including Singapore, up from 60 compared to the previous quarter. Of this, SIA served 49 destinations while Scoot covered 24 points.

The Group’s cargo network comprised 76 destinations including Singapore, up from 72 as at the end of the prior quarter.

1QFY22 saw SIA’s expenditure fall by 16.9% to $1,569 million. This was despite a 132.3% increase in the net fuel cost $360 million that was mainly due to higher fuel prices as well as in increase in the volume uplifted in tandem with the capacity expansion.

In this time, the fuel hedging gains came in at $13 million, up from losses of $71 million in 1QFY21 ended June 30 2020. Market-to-market gains of $72 million were also recognised on ineffective fuel hedges, a reversal from the $464 million in losses recognised in the previous year.

Conversely, non-fuel expenditure came in at $1,281 million, up 0.9% from the year before due to the higher costs that came with the increased flying activities. These were partially mitigated by lower depreciation costs as surplus aircraft were removed from the fleet.

Overall, SIA’s operating losses came in at $274 million, improving from the $1,037 logged last year.

As at 1QFY22, the group has completed its rights issuance which raked in $6.2 billion in additional liquidity. This brings its total amount raised to $21.6 billion since 1 Apr 2020.

SIA ended 1QFY22 with shareholders’ equity of $22.3 billion as well as a $5.9 billion increase in cash and bank balances to $13.7 million thanks to the rights issuances.

In this time, the group’s total debt balance increased by $0.7 billion to $15.1 billion, due to the increase in lease liabilities as a result of sale-and-leaseback activities.

Going forward, the group expects passenger capacity to be around 33% of pre-Covid-19 levels in the second quarter of FY2021/22. By end of September 2021, the SIA Group expects to serve around 50% of the points that were part of our passenger network before the onset of Covid-19.

Shares in Singapore Airlines closed up 6 cents or 1.17% at $5.18 on July 29, before its results announcement.


 

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SIA ends monthly variable component wage cuts for all Singapore-based staff​


Additional pay cuts for pilots and senior management will remain, said a Singapore Airlines spokesperson.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/sin...a-monthly-variable-component-cuts-end-2110326
SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines (SIA) has ended the monthly variable component (MVC) wage cuts of its Singapore-based staff, which were cut last year as the company's revenue plunged due to COVID-19.

On Friday (Aug 13), an SIA spokesperson told CNA that the airline has ceased the MVC cuts from Aug 1.

However, the additional pay cuts for pilots will remain, as per an agreement with the Airline Pilots' Association - Singapore (ALPA-S) union in September last year to mitigate further job losses for pilots.

Senior management will also continue to take additional pay cuts to their basic salary - remaining at 15 per cent for senior vice presidents, 20 per cent for executive vice presidents, and 25 per cent for the chief executive officer.

Board members will continue to take a 30 per cent cut in fees in solidarity with the management, said the spokesperson.

STAFF NUMBERS 20% LOWER THAN BEFORE PANDEMIC​


SIA's measures to cut expenditure in response to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to remain in place, including "renegotiating contracts with suppliers, deferring non-critical projects and tight controls on discretionary expenditure".

Staff numbers were 20 per cent lower than pre-COVID-19 levels as a result of various measures taken, said the spokesperson.

These included a hiring freeze, no-pay leave, deeper salary cuts, MVC cuts, voluntary release schemes, and a retrenchment exercise in September last year.

About 4,300 positions were cut across SIA's three airlines - 2,400 employees affected by job cuts and another 1,900 positions eliminated by measures such as a recruitment freeze and early retirement schemes.

"Since the retrenchment exercise, we have experienced higher attrition amongst our ground staff and cabin crew. Our staff have also continued to suffer a reduction in their salary for over one and a half years." said the spokesperson.

"A loss of critical resources and ability will impede our ability to recover, and hinder our efforts to ensure that the SIA Group and Singapore’s aviation sector emerge stronger."

The spokesperson added that SIA must be able to retain its current talent and continue to have the ability to attract and recruit new talent as it recovers.

"We will continue to maintain a tight lid on costs, while being nimble and agile to grab all revenue and growth opportunities in the market. Our current transformation programme will also be key to our future success," the spokesperson said.

"We will also continue to make the necessary investments, both in our people and the business, to ensure that we are in a position to emerge stronger and fitter as international travel recovers."

In March, SIA Group reported a 90.2 per cent year-on-year decline in overall passenger carriage.
 

Shion

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SIA Cargo improves in July, passenger load factor still down​


https://www.theedgesingapore.com/ne...mproves-july-passenger-load-factor-still-down
Singapore Airlines' (SIA) passenger traffic (measured in revenue passenger-kilometres) grew on the back of a calibrated increase in passenger capacity (available seat-kilometres), which rose to around 32% of pre-Covid-19 levels in July 2021. Passenger load factor (PLF) came in at 16.3%, 5.3 percentage points lower than a year before. SIA Cargo registered a monthly cargo load factor (CLF) of 87.2%, up 2.6 percentage points year-on-year as cargo loads (freight tonne-kilometres) rose by 57.9% on the back of a 53.1% capacity (capacity tonne-kilometres) expansion. East Asia, Americas, and West Asia and Africa route regions recorded year-on-year increases in CLF during the month.
 

Shion

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SIA reports passenger capacity at 32% of pre-Covid levels in August operating results update​


https://www.theedgesingapore.com/ne...capacity-32-pre-covid-levels-august-operating
The Singapore Airlines (SIA) group says its passenger capacity remained steady month-on-month at around 32% of pre-Covid-19 levels.

The group’s passenger traffic grew 7.4%.

Its passenger load factor (PLF) stood 1.3 percentage points lower y-o-y and 1.2 percentage points higher m-o-m at 17.5%.p

The group’s passenger capacity for its flagship airline surged around four times y-o-y to 4,383.8km in August from 1,068.1km in August 2020. The surge was in part attributable to the low base last year.

Passenger carriage, similarly, surged some four times to 133,300 from 32,700 in August 2020.

Its low-cost carrier Scoot saw passenger capacity surge six times to 732.6km from 122.0 km in August 2020.

Passenger carriage grew more than three times y-o-y to 22,100 in August from 7,100 in August 2020.

The group overall saw a five time surge in passenger capacity of 5,116.4km in August from 1,190.1km in August 2020.

SIA Cargo registered a cargo load factor (CLF) of 87.6%, which is 5.8 percentage points up y-o-y.

Cargo loads rose by 56.2% due to a 46% increase in capacity.

SIA’s passenger network covered 67 destinations as at end August, while Scoot served 25 cities.

Shares in SIA closed 6 cents lower or 1.22% at $4.86 on Sept 15.
 

vsvs24

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https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/tr...-up-last-s600m-of-s88b-from-2020-rights-issue
SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) on Thursday said that it has exhausted the S$8.8 billion in gross proceeds raised from its rights issue in June last year, with the last S$0.6 billion having been used for aircraft and aircraft-related payments between July 1 and Sept 1.

In a filing to the Singapore Exchange, the flag carrier said that the net proceeds of S$6.2 billion from the issuance of additional mandatory convertible bonds (MCBs) in June this year had yet to be utilised as of Thursday.
 
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