The airline reported an unexpected loss in the January-March quarter, its first since the tail end o

SINGAPORE - Tony Fernandes, the flamboyant chief executive of budget airline AirAsia, joked last month that he could buy Singapore Airlines and even displayed airline reservations southwest an artist's impression of his competitor's plane painted in AirAsia colours.
It was a tongue-in-cheek jab, but one that struck at a painful truth for Singapore Airlines. The company has stuck to its luxury image even as low-cost carriers picked off passengers in a weak global economy, and profits have suffered.
The airline reported an unexpected loss in the January-March quarter, its first since the tail end of the global financial crisis in 2009 which crushed global air travel. Its shares are down 29 per cent in the past 12 months, while AirAsia's are up 10 per cent.
While AirAsia pecks away at the low end, Dubai's flagship carrier Emirates is challenging Singapore for the title of top luxury carrier. Emirates does not have publicly traded shares, but its operating margins over the past six years have outpaced Singapore's, 8.6 per cent to 6.5 per cent.
Goh assumed the mantle at a time when the industry is making a paradigm shift from the extravagance of the past to the economic realities of today, said Shukor Yusof, a Singapore-based aviation analyst for Standard Poor's.
Goh's approach has been somewhat of a hedge. The company launched long-haul budget carrier Scoot this year, and is expanding the capacity of its regional carrier airline reservations southwest SilkAir by more than a fifth by early next year.
But the strategy depends on premium trans-ocean travel bouncing back. Although international passenger traffic has increased so far in 2012, growth in economy class far outpaced premium traffic in April, the most recent month for which data is available.
If that pattern persists, SIA would be hit hard because airline reservations southwest of its focus on first- and business-class customers. It is the only major airline to operate all business-class flights - including a 19-hour, nonstop service connecting New York and Singapore, the longest airline reservations southwest scheduled route in the world.
The business class-only airline reservations southwest flights to the United States, airline reservations southwest which serve both New York City gateway Newark and Los Angeles, are a hit with travellers willing to pay a premium to shave hours off a trip to Asia.
The seats don't come cheap, costing as much as US$10,000 (S$12,800) for a round-trip journey, and the airline can't always sell enough tickets to cover fuel and labour costs. Industry insiders told Reuters the airline once flew to the United States carrying a single passenger, although SIA declined to confirm that.
The airline uses fuel-thirsty Airbus A340s for those long-haul direct flights. The planes, built for the world's longest trips, run on four engines and were designed in an era of cheaper oil. Most other long-range jets such as Boeing's 777 use two engines and burn less fuel, making them cheaper to operate.
If people can sell paintings for US$120 million, it tells you something, he told Reuters airline reservations southwest at an aviation conference, referring to Edvard airline reservations southwest Munch's masterpiece The Scream that sold for the record-setting sum at an auction in May.
SINGAPORE - Tony Fernandes, the flamboyant chief executive airline reservations southwest of budget airline AirAsia, joked last month that he could buy Singapore Airlines and even displayed an artist's impression of his competitor's plane painted in AirAsia colours.
It was a tongue-in-cheek jab, but one that struck at a painful truth for Singapore Airlines. The company has stuck to its luxury image even as low-cost carriers picked airline reservations southwest off passengers airline reservations southwest in a weak global economy, and profits have suffered.
The airline reported an unexpected loss in the January-March quarter, its first since the tail end of the global financial crisis in 2009 which crushed global air travel. Its shares are down 29 per cent in the past 12 months, while AirAsia's are up 10 per cent.
While AirAsia pecks away at the low end, Dubai's flagship carrier Emirates is challenging Singapore for the title of top luxury carrier. Emirates does not have publicly traded shares, airline reservations southwest but its operating airline reservations southwest margins over the past six years have outpaced Singapore's, 8.6 per cent to 6.5 per cent.
Goh assumed the mantle at a time when the industry is making a paradigm shift from the extravagance of the past to the economic realities of today, said Shukor Yusof, a Singapore-based aviation analyst for Standard Poor's.
airline reservations southwest Goh's approach has been somewhat of a hedge. The company launched long-haul budget carrier airline reservations southwest Scoot this year, and is expanding the capacity of its regional carrier SilkAir by more than a fifth by early next year.
But the strategy depends on premium trans-ocean travel bouncing back. Although international passenger traffic has increased so far in 2012, growth in economy class far outpaced premium traffic airline reservations southwest in April, the most recent month for which data is available.
airline reservations southwest If that pattern persists, SIA would be hit hard because of its focus on first- and business-class customers. It is the only major airline to operate all business-class flights - including a 19-hour, nonstop airline reservations southwest service connecting New York and Singapore, the longest scheduled route in the world.