SIA: the airline is adding back flights, but travel bubbles stall
Singapore Airlines (SIA) expects its gradual increase in capacity will continue this year, although it still has a long road to anything like a recovery. Recent COVID-19 outbreaks in many Asia-Pacific countries - including Singapore - mean that travel bubbles no longer present the opportunity for short term acceleration.
As has been discussed many times, airlines like SIA and Cathay Pacific are in a particularly vulnerable situation during the pandemic, due to their complete reliance on international services.
As two-way travel bubbles are put on hold, SIA is having to pin its hopes for a more meaningful international revival on vaccination programmes in its key markets. But many questions are still to be answered regarding cross-border harmonisation and acceptance of vaccination protocols.
In the meantime, SIA is resuming services where it can. It is also further tweaking its fleet plans as it becomes more apparent that an international rebound is still on the distant horizon.
Become a CAPA Member to access Analysis Reports
Our Analysis Reports are only available to CAPA Members. CAPA Membership provides exclusive access to in-depth insights on the latest developments in the aviation and travel industry, developed by our team of dedicated analysts located in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia.
Each report offers a fresh perspective on the latest industry trends and is available online or via the CAPA mobile app, with customisable alerts to help you stay informed and identify new business opportunities.
CAPA Membership also provides access to our full suite of tools, including a tailored selection of more than 1,000 News Briefs every week and comprehensive data and analysis on thousands of companies around the world.