Why is Singapore Airlines investing in Air India?

 

Singapore Airlines Group's passenger load factor for December 2022 drops to 89.7 percent during the month - up 3.8 percentage points from a month ago and up 43.2 percentage points year-on-year

When Singapore Airlines Group (SIA) released its operating figures for December 2022, it revealed that it carried almost 12 per cent more passengers than a month ago and four times as many passengers as a year earlier. Its two carriers, SIA and Scoot, carried a total of 2.7 million passengers in December. For the full year, it carried a total of 20.7 million passengers, a jump of 900 per cent from 2021.

The airline cited the relaxation of travel restrictions in Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan as boosting air travel demand and supporting recovery in those markets.

Though impressive, the number of passengers is still 76 per cent of the December 2019 figure of 3.54 million passengers.

SIA's passenger load factor (PLF) in December 2022 came in at 89.7 per cent during the month - up 3.8 percentage points from a month earlier and up 43.2 per cent year-on-year. The airline noted that this is the highest monthly PLF in SIA's history, with full-service carrier, SIA, and low-cost airline, Scoot, posting record monthly PLFs of 89.1 percent and 91.6 percent, respectively. The PLF for December 2019 was 87.6 per cent.

However, it should be noted that PLF is a function of the number of aircraft in service of an airline. During periods where there is a global shortage of capacity, some airlines use their planes either to keep airfares high or because they do not have enough resources to maximize their fleet utilization.

Currently, SIA has 36 inactive aircraft between its two main airline brands, according to fleet data from ch-aviation.com. The grounded aircraft include 15 Boeing 777ERs, two Airbus A350s, two A380s and two 787-8s.

With increased competition in the coming year and China's reopening from the COVID-19 lockdown, airlines in Northeast Asia are expected to put more capacity in the air, resulting in supply pressures on prices. SIA is expected to do the same for market share.

Already in December, Scoot resumed flights to Zhengzhou, China in December 2022, while SIA resumed fortnightly passenger services from Singapore to Beijing on 30 December 2022.