SIA Group's passenger carriage plummets by 96.6%

SIA Group's February operations barely weather the pandemic's blows.

Dampened demand for international passengers due to the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a massive drop in SIA Group's passenger carriage.

SIA Group, which operates flag carrier Singapore Airlines, SilkAir, and low-cost carrier Scoot, reported a 96.6% contraction in its overall passenger carriage for February 2021 compared to the same month last year. Passenger carriage measures the revenue per passenger and kilometer travelled.

"In February 2021, border controls and travel restrictions remained in place in many parts of the world to stem the spread of Covid-19 and amid concerns about the emergence of more virulent strains of the virus. As a result, the demand for international passenger air travel continued to be severely dampened," SIA Group said in a statement.

Broken down, Singapore Airlines reported a 96% decline in passenger carriage, SilkAir posted a 97.3% decline, and Scoots recorded a 98.8% decline.

SIA Group's logistics arm SIA Cargo, on the other hand, posted a record-breaking 94.6% increase in its cargo load factor year-on-year, 35.9 percentage points higher than last year's figures.

The firm is cautiously optimistic on how vaccinations could help its operations recover. It expects its passenger capacity to recover to around 26% of it's pre-pandemic figures by May, as it resumes services in other countries.