Singapore Airlines on Thursday posted a US$107 million net loss in the 2020 third quarter, as passenger numbers remained down 97.6 per cent on its pre-pandemic levels.
However, it appears the airline’s cargo business has come through as a beacon for the airline, having offset much of the group’s lost passenger revenue.
Due to this, and tax credits, the group posted an operating loss of US$248 million, which was far better than its second quarter results, where it was an operating loss of US$617 million.
However, results are obviously far down from pre-pandemic levels. In the third quarter 2019, the group saw a net profit of US$235 million.
Passenger revenue fell 75 per cent in the third quarter, as new waves of infection and tighter border restrictions saw all SIA group’s airlines – including Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and Scoot – see sharp declines in demand.
The three carriers combined carried just 195,000 passengers in the three months to December 2020, down 98 per cent on the previous year.
In light of “continued strong demand” for medical equipment and e-commerce freight movement, SIA noted that it added additional freight capacity and moved towards more freight-only flights, in order to ease cash burn.
As such, the airline was able to cut back its expenses for the quarter by 65 per cent.
“In line with Singapore’s progressive re-opening, the group expects to see a measured expansion of the passenger network over the coming months,” the airline said in a statement.
“We will continue to monitor the status of travel restrictions and adjust our capacity accordingly to meet the traffic demand.”
