Singapore Airlines continues to gain altitude and leave the pandemic in its slipstream. After a strong second quarter result, demand is predicted to be strong heading into the year-end peak travel season, the airline said.
“With the recent relaxation of border controls in parts of East Asia, we expect demand to pick-up in Hong Kong, Taipei, and points in Japan especially over the holiday period,” SIA added.
Capacity still trails demand which has pushed up ticket prices, and improved revenue, and the airline's bottom line.
Capacity for the Singapore Airlines group, which includes Scoot Airlines, is projected to rise to about 76% of pre-Covid levels by third and fourth quarters. It was only 3% in April 2020.
Singapore Airlines reported a net profit of S$556.5 million (US$393.20 million) for the three months ended 30 September, compared to a loss of S$427.6 million (US $304.6 million) from the year prior.
The carrier reported a record quarterly operating profit of S$678 million on a near tripling of its revenue from a year ago to S$4.49 billion. Shareholders were also happy with their first dividend in three years.
During the second quarter, SIA and subsidiary Scoot reinstated services to several destinations in East Asia, including twice-weekly Beijing-Singapore services and weekly services to Shenzhen. Scoot resumed weekly flights to Fuzhou and five times weekly flights to Osaka, and increased flight frequencies to Nanjing to twice weekly.