Singapore Airlines profit surges on travel rebound

STORY: Profits are surging at Singapore Airlines.

On Tuesday (February 21) the carrier said they jumped over seven-fold to about $469 million over the third quarter.

Revenue has been boosted by a recovery in demand in key markets.

That’s after travel restrictions were lifted across China, Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan.

Now SIA expects the fourth quarter to be equally robust.

It predicts it will be flying around 77% of its pre-health crisis capacity over the period.

The coming months will also see it emerge as the owner of a quarter of Air India.

That as its Vistara joint venture merges with the Tata Group-controlled airline.

However, Singapore Airlines says the industry continues to face strong headwinds.

It points to soaring cost inflation, and elevated fuel prices.

The company says competition is also set to intensify as rivals bring back more capacity to international routes.

SIA also warned of challenges on air freight, saying importers are shipping less as they focus on offloading their inventories instead.