SIA's March passenger numbers up by nearly 800,000 year on year

Singapore Airlines (SIA) enjoyed an increase of almost 800,000 in passenger numbers last month compared with a year earlier, as air travel started taking off following the easing of travel restrictions.

SIA and its low-cost subsidiary Scoot together carried a total of 893,000 passengers last month, up from 544,600 in February, and 100,100 in March last year.

Passenger load factor, which measures seat occupancy, rose to 54.5 per cent, a jump of 41.7 percentage points from a year earlier.

Average passenger load factors during the pre-pandemic era were upwards of 78 per cent.

Last month's figure thus represents the highest load factor since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020.

On the cargo side, load factors remained a healthy 72.5 per cent last month, though this was 19.8 per cent down from a year earlier.

But actual cargo loads carried rose 16.6 per cent on the back of an additional capacity of 48.3 per cent - thus the fall in load factor.

Cargo loads to and from China and Hong Kong were constrained by pandemic controls there.

With flights resuming for more destinations in Australia, South-east Asia and South Africa, as well as to Britain's Gatwick Airport (via Bangkok) and Newark in the United States, the group passenger network covered 93 destinations by the end of last month.

With the major reopening of borders, the group's operating numbers for this month are expected to be significantly higher than even those for last month.

But it will most likely take some time before the operating numbers match the pre-pandemic levels of 2019, when SIA Group carried about 3.5 million passengers.

Nevertheless, the group has restored almost 60 per cent of its capacity and flies to or along up to 80 per cent of its pre-pandemic destinations or routes.

Two months ago, the group unveiled a profit of $85 million for the third quarter ending Dec 31 last year, turning around from a loss of $142 million a year earlier.

For the nine months to end-December last year, SIA still posted a loss of $752 million, though this was a huge improvement from the $3.6 billion loss during the comparable nine months at the height of the pandemic in 2020.

Most analysts expect the January-to-March quarter this year to be profitable for SIA, though not enough to lift the full-year results into the black.

But given the solid forward bookings, the outlook remains bright, and the company's balance sheet remains stable.

To date, SIA Group has raised $22.4 billion in fresh liquidity since April 2020, including $15 billion from shareholders through rights shares and mandatory convertible bonds, as well as bond issuances, secured financing and sale-and-leaseback transactions.

SIA also has an additional $2.1 billion available in untapped credit lines.

To recapture the travel market, the airline has been actively building collaborative partnerships with regional peers like Malaysia Airlines and Garuda, as well as international carriers like United Airlines. It also has significant partnerships with Air New Zealand, ANA, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Virgin Australia and India's Vistara.

As at the end of last month, SIA had 33 codeshare partners and access to more than 200 additional destinations.

Meanwhile, its cargo business - which has held strong during the pandemic as SIA became a carrier of choice to move vaccines and pharmaceuticals around the world - covers more than 90 destinations with a fleet of 747-400F freighters, as well as the belly holds of its SIA and Scoot passenger planes.

As at April 1, the group has 185 aircraft in its operating fleet. It also has 107 planes on order, including new Boeing 777-9s, Airbus A350-900s, and planes from the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 ranges.

The main challenge remains fuel costs, which have risen significantly since the start of the war in Ukraine.

"Since the start of the vaccinated travel lanes in September last year, we have been nimble and agile in capturing the pent-up demand for air travel," said a group spokesman.

"We will remain alert to all revenue and growth opportunities that come this way as air travel returns."