Singapore Airlines Group (SIA), which includes LCC subsidiary Scoot, expects to operate 76% of pre-pandemic capacity in the six-month period ending March 31 as Asia continues to open up.
The group operated 68% of 2019 capacity levels in the six months ended Sept. 30, its fiscal first half. SIA has generally been ahead of other airlines in the Asia-Pacific region in rebuilding its network thanks to “vaccinated travel lane” agreements between Singapore and a host of countries allowing for a faster resumption of services in 2021.
SIA in October announced a string of new and resumed routes as it seeks to take advantage of restrictions easing throughout the Asia/Pacific, particularly Japan. The airline noted in an earnings report that Scoot will resume flights between Singapore (SIN) and Sapporo (CTS) in Japan via Taipei (TPE) this month. In addition, Scoot will operate a seasonal nonstop SIN-CTS route from November through February 2023 and has also resumed 5X-weekly flights to Osaka (KIX).
SIA is eager to rebuild its network to China. The carrier reinstated 2X-weekly SIN-Beijing (PEK) service from Sept. 27 and resumed weekly service to Chengdu (CTU) on Oct. 11. SIA said it has now also resumed service to Xiamen (XMN) and Scoot has relaunched flights to Chinese cities Fuzhou (FOC), Hangzhou (HGH), Wuhan (HUH) and Zhengzhou (CGO).
As of Sept. 30, 2022, the group’s passenger network spanned 100 destinations in 36 countries and territories. SIA served 74 destinations and Scoot served 48. The cargo network comprised 107 airports.
“SIA and Scoot carried 11.4 million passengers during the six months to Sept. 30, a 13-fold jump from a year before,” the group stated. “Passenger traffic and load factors were robust across all cabin classes and route regions, except in East Asia where border restrictions largely remained in place during the six months.”
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