SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines (SIA) said on Friday (May 17) that SilkAir’s order for 31 Boeing 737 MAX planes remains “intact”, despite two deadly air crashes involving the aircraft.
SilkAir, SIA’s regional arm, operated six 737 MAX jets before they were grounded in March following the crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia.
AdvertisementHowever, SIA chief executive Goh Choon Phong said SilkAir would only resume 737 MAX flights after the aircraft is certified safe not just by Singapore, but by aviation authorities of countries that SilkAir flies to.
[h=3]READ: Singapore grounds Boeing 737 MAX aircraft after 2 deadly crashes[/h]Speaking to investors and the media following the release of its annual financial results, Mr Goh also said SIA will pay “close attention” to the developments of the 737 MAX software update.
Boeing said on Thursday that it completed a software update on the 737 MAX.
AdvertisementAdvertisementThe proposed fix, which addresses a problem with a flight handling system thought to be a factor in both the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes, must now win approval from US and international regulators before the planes can return to service.
[h=3]READ: Singapore Airlines profit plunges despite record revenue[/h]SilkAir had previously planned to transfer 14 737 MAX 8s to low-cost unit Scoot, but the grounding of the aircraft has since put those plans on hold.
Along with the Rolls Royce Trent 1000 TEN engine issues troubling Scoot, SIA said that the 737 MAX grounding has resulted in a capacity shortfall at SilkAir and Scoot.
[h=3]READ: Scoot to suspend some flights due to weak demand, aircraft shortage[/h]To migitiate this, SIA is looking at expanding Scoot's fleet by leasing between 10 and 12 Airbus A320s, said SIA's senior vice-president of finance Stephen Barnes. The planes will be leased over the next two financial years.
The group is also looking to extend the leases of several of its aircraft to accommodate the shortfall.
Across the group, capacity is expected to grow about 6 per cent in its 2019/2020 financial year, SIA said.
On the integration of SilkAir into SIA, Mr Goh said that the carrier's 2020 target is still "on track". The integration is part of SIA's three-year transformation programme, which started in 2018.
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