Singapore Airlines (SQ, Singapore Changi) is contemplating establishing hubs outside of Singapore to reduce its dependency on the purely international market at Singapore Changi, which proved to be a huge liability during the COVID-19 pandemic, Chief Executive Goh Choon Phong told Bloomberg.
"We recognise that not having a domestic market means challenges. That’s why we have a multi-hub strategy. We’re setting up an external hub where we hope to be able to participate in the growth of that market," Goh said.
He did not elaborate on where the "external hub" could be located, although he hinted that any such expansion would entail equity investment in other airlines. Due to the regulatory environment in Asia, an application for extensive fifth-, seventh-, or ninth-freedom traffic rights would likely be an uphill battle for the carrier.
Currently, Singapore Airlines Group‘s only foreign venture is in India, where the holding owns a 49% stake in Vistara (UK, Delhi Int’l). The remaining 51% stake is owned by Tata Sons. After the Indian conglomerate acquired Air India (AI, Mumbai Int’l), sources touted the potential merger of Vistara into the flag carrier, even though no plans were ever openly discussed. Goh said Singapore Airlines remains committed to its Indian airline.
"What I can say is that both Tata Sons and we are equally committed to ensuring that Vistara continues to grow," he stressed.
The two shareholders recapitalised Vistara as recently as mid-March 2022.
Singapore Airlines, through its subsidiary Scoot (TR, Singapore Changi), also owned a stake in Thai joint-venture NokScoot (XW, Bangkok Don Mueang) a long-haul low-cost carrier which folded during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I am not ashamed to say that we have tried, for example, in Thailand, with NokScoot. Of course, with the pandemic, things are very difficult. What really matters is the strategy of identifying the right partners to work with in a multi-hub scenario. It might not work, but that shouldn’t stop us from doing what we think is right. And we have to be willing to take some risks," Goh said.
The Singaporean carrier suffered unprecedented losses when the tough travel restrictions imposed by the government cut off practically all international travel to and from Singapore. The airline relied on cargo operations and, over time, gradually reopening transit routes. In the 2020 financial year ended on March 31, 2021, Singapore Airlines lost SGD4.3 billion Singaporean dollars (USD3.1 billion) and posted a 97.5% drop in passenger numbers compared to the previous year, the ch-aviation PRO airlines module shows.
Goh also said that Boeing had reached out to Singapore Airlines to discuss compensation for the delayed deliveries of B777X aircraft. The carrier has thirty-one B777-9s on firm order from the manufacturer. The type is currently not expected to enter into service before late 2025.
"When the delay was foreseen, you can imagine that Boeing would have reached out to us for early conversations. Obviously, we expect Boeing to help us in the interim to make sure that we continue to be able to deploy the right capacity," Goh said.
Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad Int’l) will continue to retire its A380-800s as soon as feasible, seeing no long-term future for the giant jet in its fleet, according to Group Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker.
Speaking to Simple Flying, he reiterated he still considered the A380 his “biggest mistake”.
Al Baker’s comments coincided with several airlines returning the A380 to service following a massive travel rebound this summer and slot capacity constraints at major airports. There is also a lack of wide-body capacity amid production issues with the new A350, an issue that has escalated into a USD1 billion legal battle between Qatar Airways and Airbus.
However, Al Baker said spare parts for A380s were challenging to get. “Out of the eight that we commissioned to fly, we only fly seven. We keep one spare because today, you have difficulty getting spares for them because of the supply chain. [Airbus] stopped producing them, so there is no more incentive to make spares.”
“Due to the grounding of the A350s…
Aircalin (SB, Nouméa La Tontouta) is in discussions about adding a third A330-900, which would allow it to launch in-house services to Paris CDG, Chief Executive Didier Tappero told the Aviation Week Network.
“We are working with Airbus to eventually order a third widebody aircraft. We want to have the capacity to fly Paris to Nouméa La Tontouta, but it is still a project we have to work on,” Tappero said.
The New Caledonian carrier currently relies on its codeshare and interline agreements to connect the French collectivity in the Pacific Ocean with the metropole. It operates two A330-900s, which it deploys to Papeete, Sydney Kingsford Smith, and Tokyo Narita, and has just added Singapore Changi to its network. It has a codeshare agreement with Air France on routes from Paris CDG to Narita and Singapore, and an interline agreement with Singapore Airlines on the Singapore-Paris route.
Tappero said Aircalin was hopeful that Singapore would become an important connecting hub. The airline currently serves the…
Uzbekistan’s civil aviation authority (O’zaviatsiya Agentligi) has emphatically denied rumours that have been spreading online about the emergence of a new airline in the country by the name of Panorama Airways (Tashkent Islam Karimov). Online sources had claimed that two A320-200s were already in Tashkent undergoing pre-delivery maintenance while an ex-Singapore Airlines B777-300 – ER-77739 (msn 32327) – was being prepared in Bishkek.
“Reports in the mass media about the creation of a new airline in Uzbekistan, Panorama Airways, and its imminent performance of flights on Airbus A320 and Boeing B777 aircraft is not true,” the authority said on June 29.
It stressed that “in order to carry out any activities related to the use of aircraft in civil aviation, the requirements of Article 44 of the Air Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan and [regulations] approved by the Cabinet of Ministers, any legal entity or individual must obtain an air operator’s certificate from O’zaviatsiya Agentligi in the prescribed manner.”
“The organisation calling itself Panorama Airways has not…
Jakarta has confirmed Garuda Indonesia (GA, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) free of bankruptcy, prompting the Indonesian government to immediately start the search for new investors, deputy minister for state-owned enterprises Kartika Wirjoatmodjo told reporters. The ministry has been in talks with several foreign airlines and financial investors, he added.
Such investors will have the resources to aid the flag carrier’s new business plan, the minister said after the airline managed to gain creditor support to restructure its IDR142 trillion rupiah (USD9.5 billion) worth of liabilities, the Indonesian news agency Antara reported Kartika as saying. Garuda has managed to halve this debt, through court-led negotiations and in out-of-court settlements, to USD5.1 billion, he said.
Garuda Indonesia has also cut aircraft leasing costs in negotiations that began more than two years ago. To accommodate new shareholders, the government said it was prepared to cut its shareholding to no less than 51%, inject a further IDR7.5 trillion (USD500 million) into Garuda’s capital this year, and conduct a rights offering in the fourth quarter to raise additional cash.
Among the…
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