Singapore Airlines group (SIA) announced on Friday evening it would withdraw 26 aircraft from its fleet in efforts to reposition the airline in a post-COVID-19 operating environment. Read More » The aircraft deemed “surplus to fleet requirements” after a business review are seven A380s, four 777-200/200ERs, four 777-300s, nine A320s and two A319s, SIA said in its financial report for the six months to September 30, 2020. The company will book an S$1.3 billion impairment charge on the carrying value of its older generation airplanes
The group has concluded negotiations with Airbus on a revised aircraft delivery schedule that included deferrals for some aircraft on order, while negotiations with Boeing on the same topic were at an advanced stage. "These outcomes will help to moderate the aircraft delivery stream in the near term," SIA said. It had removed seats from two of its LCC Scoot’s A320ceo aircraft and two of Singapore Airlines' 777-300ERs to carry only cargo.
SIA reported a net loss of S$3.5 billion (US$2.6 billion) for the six months to September 30, compared with a net profit of S$206 million in the same period a year ago. Revenue collapsed by 80%, to S$1.6 billion, from S$8.3 billion previously, while costs were reduced by 56%, to S$3.5 billion. The Singapore Airlines operation slid to an operating loss of S$1.3 billion, from an operating profit of S$465 million in the same half in 2019. The operating loss of regional wing, SilkAir, deteriorated to S$165 million, from an S$19 million loss previously. Scoot’s operating loss widened to S$414 million, from S$77 million.
The integration of SilkAir into Singapore Airlines was progressing on track, with the regional carrier’s first 737-800 expected to start flying under the Singapore Airlines operation in the first quarter of calendar 2021. The decision to bring SilkAir under the main Singapore Airlines brand was announced in 2018.
SIA said the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic was likely to remain patchy, given new waves of infections around the world and concerns about imported cases. "Nonetheless, there are some early signs of optimism," SIA said. "Customers are slowly becoming more confident about air travel, given the robust health and safety measures put in place by airlines, airports and governments. There also are encouraging developments in the adoption of test protocols to facilitate border opening."
Japan Airlines (JAL) said on Friday it planned to raise 170 billion yen ($US1.6 billion) in fresh capital through the sale of 90.9 million shares to Japanese and international investors to bolster the balance sheet in response to challenging market conditions brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. It will be the first time JAL will conduct a capital raising since it was relisted in 2012.
The airline said the funds would be put towards investing in new aircraft such as the A350, to support capital expenditure at its wholly-owned LCC ZIPAIR Tokyo and backing for Jetstar Japan – co-owned with Australia's Qantas Group – and Spring Airlines Japan, in which JAL has a minority interest. Some of the proceeds of the sale would pay down debt. "We believe, through the offerings, we will improve our financial structure at an early stage and promptly conduct capital investments, etc. in order to implement initiatives for the post-COVID-19 era, thereby improving profitability and contributing to establishing a competitive advantage," JAL said.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) said on Friday it had become the first airline to use sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) on flights departing from Japan. The airline said in a statement it marked the occasion with a send-off on Friday prior to its flight from Tokyo Haneda to Houston, which was powered by SAF produced by Neste. ANA said it the first Asian-based customer for Finland-based Neste.
Airbus said on Friday it booked 11 new commercial aircraft orders in October: four A320neo family aircraft, one A320neo and six A220 aircraft in private jet configuration. The company delivered 72 aircraft in the month, including the first A330-800 to launch customer Kuwait Airways. The results were down from 77 aircraft ordered in October 2019. Notable deliveries in the Asia-Pacific for the month were three A350-900s to SIA, one A350-900 to Cathay Pacific, one A321neo to Taiwan's Starlux Airlines and one A380 to ANA.
Turboprop maker, ATR, delivered one aircraft in the nine months to September 30, 2020, compared with 29 deliveries in the same months a year ago. Leonardo's latest financial report, published on Friday showed. Leonardo has shipped 19 ATR fuselages in the first nine months of calendar 2020, down from 51 in the same months of 2019. Leonardo CEO, Alessandro Profumo, expected ATR deliveries to eventually return to about 60 or 70 aircraft a year, but he did not offer a view of when that would be. ATR is a 50/50 joint-venture between Leonardo and Airbus.
Boeing said on Friday Jinnah Hosein had been appointed to a newly created role of vice president of software engineering. Hosein was previously at self-driving vehicle company, Aurora, where he had the same job title. He also has worked at SpaceX and Tesla. He will report to Boeing chief engineer and senior vice president of engineering, test and technology, Greg Hyslop, the company said in a statement.
