Air India’s Losses Are Still Bigger Than Singapore Airlines’ Profit

Photo Credit: The interior cabin of an Air India Airbus A320neo aircraft, part of the airline's fleet retrofit and modernization program. Air India Group Singapore Airlines (SIA) is sticking with its 25.1% stake in Air India, even as the investment continues to weigh heavily on its financial results. For the six months to September 30, SIA on Wednesday reported a net profit of S$134 million ($104 million), down 44% from a year earlier, on record revenue of S$11.3 billion ($8.8 billion). Its share of Air India’s losses was S$361.7 million ($281.5 million), nearly 2.7 times the group’s net profit. That was still a marked improvement on the S$429.5 million ($334 million) loss recorded a year earlier. The improvement came entirely in the second quarter. SIA said its share of losses from associated companies, mainly Air India, was S$110 million ($85.6 million) lower than a year earlier in the three months to September. That is more than the S$68 million improvement for the half as a whole, which shows losses in the first quarter were worse than a year earlier. The second-quarter gain helped lift SIA’s quarterly