Singapore Airline (SIA) is hoping to reintroduce direct flights to the US, but will have to wait for technological advances by both Airbus and Boeing in order to do so profitably.
Speaking to Bloomberg Television, SIA’s chief executive Goh Choon Phong highlighted that the airline previously held claim to the longest commercial non-stop flight in the world, with its Singapore–New York service.
“We used to fly the [Airbus] A340-500 [between Singapore and Newark], but that was simply not fuel-efficient enough,” said Goh.
The lack of “commercially viable aircraft” that can fly non-stop between Singapore and the US is a major hurdle for SIA.
Singapore Airlines A340-500
The geographic position of its hub has put the airline at a disadvantage compared to neighbouring Asian carriers such as Cathay Pacific, who are able to operate direct routes to US destinations.
At present, all flights between Singapore and the US require a stopover to generate healthy profit margins.
“The main reason [for our disadvantage] is the lack of intermediate points, and that’s largely because the countries concerned are not willing to give us the rights to operate fifth freedom routes,” stated Goh.
To that end, SIA has approached both Airbus and Boeing to discuss the possibility of developing an aircraft based on new technologies that allows it to operate non-stop flights between Singapore and the US profitably.
“The discussions are still ongoing,” said Goh. “We of course want it as soon as possible, but the manufacturers are telling us that it will take some time.”
First class on the B777-300ER
Despite the difficulties faced in the US market, Goh still remains optimistic of his airline’s future growth and profitability. The SIA Group owns subsidiaries Silk Air, Scoot, Tigerair, as well as holding significant stakes in Virgin Australia and Vistara.
“What we’ve done to position the company for the future is to ensure that [we’re in a position] for growth going forward,” commented the SIA chief. “Look at Vistara. It operates in India, a largely untapped market that is going to have a large middle class segment. So Vistara will be able to tap into that traffic, and help stimulate growth for the SIA Group”.
Vistara
Goh did concede that the economies in Southeast Asia were fairly open, in terms of air services agreements, with Singapore being at the forefront of this. Along with the ongoing proliferation of low-cost carrier operations in the region, as well as the massive capacity injection by the Gulf carriers, SIA is poised for ever-increasing competition. However the SIA chief stressed his airline has no issues with this.
For more information, visit singaporeair.com
Clement Huang
