The chief executive officer of Singapore Airlines said on Friday that the airline had nearly 80% of its aircraft operational and the great majority of pilots and cabin crew on hand, allowing it to promptly respond to any surge in demand.
"We currently have 92% of our pilots and 86% of our cabin personnel back," SAL CEO Goh Choon Phong told analysts and the media.
After reporting a lower second-quarter deficit due to cost-cutting initiatives, record cargo income, and an uptick in passenger numbers from a low base, the airline said Thursday that market conditions were improving.
"We are quite comfortable with this return rate at the level we are operating currently, which is 37% of pre-COVID capacity, moving up to 43% in December," he added.
The pressure on Singapore Airlines looks to be easing as vaccinated travel lanes sustain demand for air travel to and through Singapore, resulting in quarter-on-quarter increases in passenger traffic and network expansion for the airline.
Singapore Airlines lost $617.8 million in the six months ending September 30. This is a significant improvement over the net loss of US$3.467 billion in the six months ending September 30, 2020, analysts said.
More than a dozen nations, including the United States, Britain, Germany, Australia, and South Korea, have lately established vaccinated travel routes without quarantine.
"A China opening is unlikely at the time," Goh added, "but we are ready to seize any other chances that present themselves."
From November 29, Malaysia will be added to the list, allowing more flights between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, which was one of the world's busiest international routes before the pandemic broke out.
The daily arrivals for the vaccinated travel lanes have been capped, implying that the permissible traffic is in the single digits of pre-pandemic passenger counts.
However, it is a positive omen for travel in the Asia-Pacific region, which had some of the strictest border controls in the world during the pandemic.
The company's operational cash deficit for the six months ended September 30 was US$78.24 million (or US$13.29 million per month on average).
Meanwhile, after nearly two years of cash flow losses, Singapore Airlines must be relieved to see monthly operating cash flows approaching break-even levels.
Singapore Airlines Group's revenue for the six months ended September 30 was US$2.087 billion. This is a 74% increase compared to the group's revenue in the same six months of last year.
By the end of year, the Singapore Airlines Group intends to have restored 42% of its pre-pandemic passenger capacity.
