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SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines Group (SIA) saw a 98.1 percent year-on-year decline in passenger transport in September, even as Singapore opened its borders to more locations.
“Demand for air travel continued to be low as border controls and strict travel restrictions were maintained in most countries to curb the spread of COVID-19,” the group said in publishing its September operating results on Thursday (October 15).
Lower overall passenger transport in September resulted in a passenger load factor per group (PLF) of 17.2%, representing a drop of almost 68 points from last year. PLF measures the percentage of available seating capacity that is filled with passengers.
SIA Group’s passenger capacity was down 90.8 percent year-on-year.
Meanwhile, for SIA itself, capacity was 88.9% lower compared to last year. In September, the SIA network, which was described as “skeletal”, connected Singapore with 30 metropolitan cities. This was higher than August 28, after adding Surabaya and Taipei.
SIA’s passenger transport also decreased 97.7 percent, resulting in a PLF of 17.4 percent.
Meanwhile, SilkAir’s passenger transport declined 99.1 percent year-on-year versus a 98.1 percent cut in capacity, the group said, adding that PLF was 37.1 percent.
“SilkAir continued to operate flights to Cebu, Chongqing, Kuala Lumpur and Medan, adding Phnom Penh to the list of destinations served,” the group noted.
As for budget airline Scoot, passenger transport decreased 99.4% year-on-year as capacity dropped 95.7%, leading to a PLF of 12.5%.
The group noted that Scoot had increased the number of destinations served to 15 in September, adding Osaka-Kansai (via Kaohsiung), Tokyo-Narita (via Taipei) and Yogyakarta to the network, temporarily suspending Tianjin.
Operations in Western Asia and Europe remained suspended.
Freight load factor was 29.5 percentage points higher year-on-year, as the 59.4% year-on-year capacity contraction outpaced the 39.3% drop in freight traffic (measured in ton-kilometers of freight ), the group said.
It added that all road regions saw year-on-year increases in cargo load factor last month.
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Despite the results, the SIA Group noted that there were “positive developments” for them, as the government gradually reopened its borders in some places.
“In September 2020, the Singapore government announced the addition of Australia (excluding the state of Victoria) and Vietnam to the list of countries to which it has unilaterally opened its borders,” he explained.
“Singapore also continued to add additional cities from which passengers can travel, via Singapore, to other destinations.
“These positive developments have helped reinforce the SIA Group of airlines’ continued recovery from COVID-19.
“Singapore Airlines and SilkAir continue to rebuild their network, reestablishing services to Brunei, Fukuoka, Kathmandu and Malé and increasing the frequency of selected flights in their passenger network in October, November and December 2020.”
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