Singapore Airlines (SIA) has reported a net loss for the three months to June 30, 2020 of S$1.1 billion (US$816 million), plunging the airline group into the red from a net profit of S$111 million a year ago. The airline group - Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and Scoot - said passenger numbers fell 99.6%, to 38,000, in the quarter, as the coronavirus pandemic smashed demand. In a regulatory filing to the Singapore stock exchange yesterday, the group said the recovery trajectory in international air travel had been "slower than initially expected". Read More »
The company said it was talking with aircraft manufacturers to negotiate adjustments to the delivery stream of existing aircraft orders and the schedule of progress payments to reduce near-term cash outflows. It had reached agreement with Airbus "on some of these matters" while discussions with Boeing were "ongoing", the company said. SIA has outstanding orders for 43 A320 family aircraft, 19 A350 family aircraft, 31 737 MAXs, 20 777-9Xs and 34 787 family aircraft, according to the websites of Airbus and Boeing.
ANA HOLDINGS INC., the parent company of Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA), has reported a net loss of 108.8 billion yen (US$1 billion) for the three months to June 30, 2020, compared with a net profit of 11.4 billion yen for the same months in 2019. ANA HOLDINGS executive vice president and chief financial officer, Ichiro Fukuzawa, said the company managed to reduce costs and offset lost revenue during the coronavirus pandemic by catering for increased demand for international cargo. However, the company was "unable to offset the unprecedented impact of COVID-19 and ended with a large quarterly loss", Fukuzawa said in a statement yesterday. ANA HOLDINGS said no financial guidance for the fiscal 2021 financial year was provided in a climate of global economic uncertainty.
InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, the parent company of Indian carrier, IndiGo, has reported a net loss of 28.4 billion rupees (US$380 million) for the three months to June 30, 2020, a deterioration from a net profit of 12 billion rupees in the 2019 corresponding period. Revenue from operations declined 91.9%, to 7.667 billion rupees, InterGlobe said in a regulatory filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) yesterday, with the suspension of air services in India due to the coronavirus pandemic and lower capacity deployment once flights resumed significantly impacting the quarterly results. "We have built a strong team which is working on multiple fronts to ensure that we emerge from this crisis stronger than ever," InterGlobe CEO, Ronojoy Dutta, said.
Rival Indian LCC, SpiceJet, said in a regulatory filing to the BSE yesterday it had recorded a net loss of 8.1 billion rupees (US$108 million) for the three months to March 30, 2020, down from a net profit of 563 million rupees a year earlier. SpiceJet chairman and managing director, Ajay Singh, said the coronavirus pandemic, which started negatively affecting demand from mid-February, and the year-long grounding of the 737 MAX by regulators following two fatal accidents in 2019, were the "two key factors that adversely impacted our performance and bottom line".
Thai Airways International (THAI) said it carried 1,962 passengers in June, which was a slight improvement from the 1,672 flown in May. THAI's monthly traffic report said passenger load factor in June was 7.0%, up from 3.8% in May, with the airline operating 198 flights in June, compared with 259 flights in May. THAI has cancelled flight operations until August but said recently it planned to operate three one-off flights between Bangkok and London Heathrow, two Bangkok-Frankfurt flights and one Bangkok-Taipei in August.
Boeing president and CEO, David Calhoun, said during the company's second quarter results conference call overnight he expected the necessary regulatory approvals for the 737 MAX to return to service to be obtained "in time to support resumption of deliveries during the fourth quarter" of calendar 2020. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is evaluating design changes to the aircraft's systems to recertify the aircraft. Boeing reported a net loss of US$2.4 billion for the three months to June 30, an improvement from a net loss of US$2.9 billion in the same quarter last year.
Airbus CEO, Guillaume Faury, said today the company faced a "difficult situation with uncertainty ahead" in response to the coronavirus pandemic. "We have calibrated the business to face the new market environment on an industrial basis and the supply chain is now working in line with the new plan. It is our ambition to not consume cash before M&A and customer financing in H2 2020," Faury said in Airbus's first half results presentation. The company reported a net loss of 1.9 billion euros (US$2.3 billion) for the six months to June 30, 2020, compared with a net profit of 1.2 billion euros to for the same months in 2019.
