Singapore Airlines eked out an operating profit for the past six months and has slashed full-year losses by 78 per cent as its network recovers.
The airline - which has the most long-haul services to New Zealand of any overseas carrier - recorded an operating profit of S$10 million($11.4m) in the second half of the year to March 31. This was an improvement on the S$620m operating loss in the same period last year.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) posted a net loss of $962m for the full year - a 77.5 per cent improvement on the $3.3 billion loss in the previous 12 months.
It carried 3.9 million passengers in the 2021-22 financial year, up six-fold from a year before, as international air travel recovered in the past six months as global border restrictions ease.
Passenger capacity (measured in available seat-kilometres), grew from 24 per cent of pre-Covid levels in April 2021 to 51 per cent by March this year.
Singapore's launch and subsequent expansion of the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) scheme was the "game changer" for the Group. It allowed quarantine-free mass travel for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic began, and significantly boosted the demand for flights to and through Singapore. The country has since relaxed entry requirements further, no longer requiring pre-departure tests.
By deploying capacity and increasing services, SIA and subsidiary Scoot were among the first to launch flights for all VTL points. This allowed the carriers to capture the pent-up demand for air travel as it returned.
As a result, passenger flown revenue grew by $2.1b or 309 per cent to $2.8b.
Cargo revenue reached a record $4.4b - up 60.2 per cent driven by strong demand amid continued capacity constraints for both sea freight and air freight.
Group expenditure grew by nearly a third to $8.2b, the biggest component being an increase in fuel costs.
In commentary about the outlook, the airline says inflationary pressures, particularly jet fuel prices, remain a concern. Spot prices during the year rose 50 per cent.
Key markets around the world have further eased travel restrictions, supporting a strong recovery in demand in air travel across all cabin classes.
The Jewel at Singapore's Changi Airport. Photo / Supplied
Forward sales, when measured as a percentage of the total number of seats available, in the next three months up to August 2022 are approaching pre-Covid-19 levels.
At the end of the financial year, the group's passenger network covered 93 destinations in 36 countries and territories, up from 85 at the end of the third quarter.
This compared to a pre-Covid network of 137 destinations in 37 countries and territories. SIA served 69 destinations and Scoot 43 destinations. The group's cargo network comprised 100 destinations, up from 98 at the end of the previous quarter.
Based on current published schedules, the group expects passenger capacity to reach 61 per cent of pre-Covid levels for the first quarter of the 2022/23 financial year. As travel demand continues to recover, passenger capacity is expected to climb to around 67 per cent of pre-Covid levels by the second quarter.
SIA is operating services from Auckland and Christchurch with 14 flights a week to Singapore, including services from Auckland to Singapore operated by its alliance partner Air New Zealand.
From April 2020 to January this year, SIA operated more than 1700 passenger services, helping to return close to 37,000 people to New Zealand, most being returning Kiwis who entered MIQ. SIA has also supported the travel of more than 45,000 expats living in New Zealand to their home countries.
In the period from April 2020 through to December 2021, SIA operated 277 freighter services and 888 passenger aircraft carrying cargo-only services delivering thousands of tonnes of cargo to New Zealand, including essential pharmaceuticals, PPE and 14 shipments of around 1.6 million Covid-19 Pfizer vaccines
