Hello, Uncle Sam: SIA could re-launch direct flights between Singapore and US

SIA stopped such direct services since 2013.

According to OCBC, Singapore Airlines (SIA) announced last evening that it has signed an agreement to be the launch customer for a new ultra-long-range variant of the Airbus A350 aircraft (i.e. A35-900ULR). This agreement will lift SIA’s total number of firm order for A350s to 67, of which seven will be upgraded to the A350-900ULR, plus 16 purchase options.

Here's more from OCBC:

The first A350-900 is expected to be delivered in early-2016 while the first A350-900ULR is scheduled for delivery in 2018. The delivery of A350-900ULR in 2018 will enable SIA, in a commercially viable manner, to re-launch the world’s longest non-stop flights, between Singapore and both Los Angeles and New York. Non-stop flights between Singapore and additional points in the U.S. are also under consideration.

In our view, this is certainly positive for SIA in the longer-term to regain market share of passenger traffic between Singapore and U.S., which was lost when SIA stopped such direct services since 2013. However, in the near to medium-term, we believe Gulf carriers continue to be a significant threat with aggressive expansion plans and we see pressures ahead on both yields and loads. Hence, we keep our forecasts unchanged for now.