by Jared Heng
Singapore Airlines (SIA) Cargo Wednesday announced it has reduced freighter capacity by 20 per cent in response to continuing weakness in demand and high fuel prices.
The capacity reductions were implemented recently and will continue into the northern summer operating season that starts late next month.
“The air cargo market has shown weakness for the past nine months, and the depressed demand that we are seeing across all markets gives us little reason to be optimistic about the near-term outlook,” said SIA Cargo President, Tan Kai Ping.
“With no improvement expected in the first half of this calendar year, and with stubbornly high fuel prices pushing up costs, we have taken appropriate action to reduce our freighter operations to better match capacity to demand,” he added.
SIA Cargo currently has a fleet of 13 Boeing 747-400 freighters.
The capacity reductions, which are mainly for long-haul services, have led to a corresponding reduction in the number of flying hours for each aircraft, the company said.
Singapore Airlines Limited Wednesday closed on the Singapore Exchange at S$10.940, down slightly from the previous close of S$11.000.
