Singapore Airlines May 2017 Operating Results

In May 2017, SIA Group airlines' passenger load factor (PLF) improved 3.4 percentage points to 77.0%. Passenger carriage (measured in revenue passenger kilometres) increased 6.5% compared to last year, outpacing capacity (measured in available seat kilometres) expansion of 1.8%.

Singapore Airlines' passenger carriage increased 4.2% compared to the previous year, against a capacity contraction of 1.2%. PLF improved 3.9 percentage points to 76.6% as all regions recorded higher loads. In particular, higher passenger volumes contributed to the PLF improvement on the Kangaroo route. The restructuring in the Americas network, and the capacity reduction in West Asia and Africa led to higher PLFs in the respective regions. The competitive landscape remains challenging and promotional efforts will continue in relevant markets.

SilkAir’s systemwide passenger carriage grew 9.2% year-on-year, ahead of capacity growth of 7.9%. Consequently, PLF increased by 0.8 percentage points to 70.3%. Growth in passenger carriage exceeded capacity injection in Southeast Asia and West Asia.

Budget Aviation Holdings (BAH) recorded a 16.1% year-on-year increase in systemwide passenger carriage, exceeding capacity expansion of 14.0%. Consequently, PLF improved by 1.5 percentage points to 81.4%. PLF increased in East Asia and West Asia regions as demand on routes to Indonesia, Thailand and most of India continued to improve. In particular, Jaipur recorded strong PLF following the transfer from wide-body to narrow-body services since the start of the Northern Summer season. During the month, BAH took delivery of its second 787-8 aircraft fitted with crew rest bunks, for long-haul services, which led to a wide-body fleet of 14 aircraft, compared to 11 a year ago.

Overall cargo load factor (CLF) was 4.2 percentage points higher with growth in cargo traffic (measured in freight-ton-kilometres) of 10.1% surpassing overall capacity expansion of 3.1%. CLF improved across all regions as demand outpaced capacity changes.