Singapore Airlines (SIA) reported a robust set of numbers for its June operating results, thanks to the high demand for air travel amid the mid-year holidays, coupled with the start of the summer travel season. This was across every route region except East Asia, where travel restrictions continue to be in place for certain points.
The group carried a total of about 1.9 million passengers during the month, up 13.7% from the previous month. Group passenger capacity (measured in available seat-kilometres) was up by 3 percentage points (ppt) than the month before and 36% higher compared to a year ago, thereby reaching 64% of pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels.
The group passenger load factor (PLF) reached a new pandemic-high of 85.5% a 7.3 ppt m-o-m increase and 69.4 ppt y-o-y increase. This was on the back of SIA posting a monthly PLF of 87.8%, a record for the airline.
Cargo operations registered a load factor of 64.6%, or 23.0 ppt lower y-o-y. While loads (freight tonne-kilometres) grew 4.6% y-o-y, capacity (capacity tonne-kilometres) expanded by 41.8% as increased passenger services resulted in higher bellyhold capacity.
Manufacturing activity picked up during the month with the easing of the pandemic-related lockdowns in China. In addition, more bellyhold space was allocated for baggage carriage as passenger load factors improved. During the month, Scoot launched three times weekly flights to Jeju, South Korea. At the end of June, the group’s passenger network covered 98 destinations including Singapore. SIA served 72 destinations while Scoot served 47 destinations as of end-June.
Shares in SIA closed at $5.21 on July 15, representing a 3.99% increase ytd.
