Singapore Airlines posts $2.4bn net profit for the year to March

After struggling to survive the pandemic, international airlines that fly into Australia are making record profits as passengers are willing to pay up for overseas trips.

Emirates business class bar lounge on board its A380 aircraft is a popular feature of the gulf carrier. Picture: Getty Images

The strong rebound in international travel has made a huge difference to airlines’ balance sheets with Singapore Airlines the latest to announce it’s making more money than it ever has.

The carrier’s $2.4bn net profit for the year to March was the biggest in the airline’s 76-year history, and represented a $3.5bn turnaround on the previous annual result, a $1.1bn loss.

“Strong demand and robust forward passenger sales across all cabin classes” were considered the main drivers of the result along with the “hard work, dedication and sacrifices of employees”.

The results noted the average passenger load factor climbed to 85.8 per cent on Singapore Airlines’ flights, the highest in the carrier’s history.

Revenue per available seat kilometre (RASK) of 11.2c was also a record for Singapore Airlines as demand from passengers easily outpaced capacity growth.

The third biggest carrier of international travellers in and out of Australia after Qantas and Jetstar, Singapore Airlines held a 10.5 per cent slice of the market in December, up from 7.8 per cent in the same month pre-Covid-19.

Singapore Airlines has reported strong demand across all cabin classes in its annual results for 2022-23. Picture: Singapore Airlines

Emirates also posted an all-time record profit for year to March 31, achieving a $4.32bn gain after a $1.59bn loss in the previous corresponding period.

By mid-year, the Dubai-based carrier was expecting to operate 63 flights a week into Australia, carrying a potential 55,000 people to and from Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth.

The airline was yet to announce a return to Adelaide post-Covid-19 contributing to a lower overall market share of 6.6 per cent in December compared to 7 per cent in December 2019.

Emirates chief executive officer Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said the easing of global travel restrictions had “triggered a tide of demand” that the airline was anticipating.

“Our ongoing investments in our brand, and in our products and services, helped drive customer preference and position us favourably in the market,” he said.

“As a result, we have delivered a record financial performance and cash balance for our financial year. This reflects the strength of our proven business model, our careful forward planning, the hard work of all our employees, and our solid partnerships across the aviation and travel ecosystem.”

The Qantas Group was expected to follow suit in August, when the airlines’ full year results were announced by chief executive Alan Joyce.

In February, Mr Joyce hailed the group’s “huge turnaround” to deliver a record half-year profit of $1.43bn.

There was no sign of the international travel demand easing, with another hectic northern summer anticipated.

International Air Transport Association senior vice president for operations, safety and security Nick Careen, said disruptions could still occur but were unlikely to be as bad as last year when some airports restricted flights to try to better manage enormous crowds.

“There is a clear expectation that the ramping-up issues faced at some key hub airports in 2022 will have been resolved,” said Mr Careen.

“A lot of work has gone into preparing for the season. Success rests on readiness across all players in the supply chain.”

He said if each player delivered on the capacity expected, there should be “no last minute requirements to reduce the scale of the schedules that travellers have booked”.

Forward bookings suggested the Asia Pacific region would see the greatest growth in airline travel compared to last year when a number of countries were still closed.

Originally published as Singapore Airlines posts $2.4bn net profit for the year to March