KUALA LUMPUR — Singapore Airlines reported a net annual loss of 212 million Singapore dollars (149 million US dollars) for the year to March 31, the first time in the carrier’s 48-year history that it failed to earn an annual profit.
The airline’s revenue was down nearly a billion dollars on 2019, when it posted a 683-million-dollar profit.
The carrier put the reversal largely down to the impact of the new coronavirus pandemic – which halted most international travel even before Singapore’s government closed the country’s borders and imposed a lockdown on April 7.
“Market conditions deteriorated abruptly in February,” Singapore Airlines noted in a statement.
The airline signalled in March that it would be forced to temporarily ground 96 per cent of its capacity due to the pandemic.
Thursday’s announcement by Singapore Airlines capped a week of mixed news for the city-state’s travel and aviation sectors.
Changi Airport was on Monday named World’s Best Airport for the eighth year in a row by voters in an internationally recognised industry poll.
However airport authorities announced the following day that a second of the hub’s four terminals would be closed temporarily from May 16.
Singapore’s cash-rich government has repeatedly pledged to protect Changi Airport and Singapore Airlines from the economic impact of the pandemic.
