SINGAPORE – Singapore Airlines (SIA) said it has seen tangible progress in Air India’s transformation, despite the Indian airline facing well-publicised challenges.
The group was responding to questions from shareholders and the Securities Investors Association (Singapore), or Sias, ahead of its annual general meeting on July 24.
In a filing with the Singapore Exchange on July 20, SIA also answered questions about forward guidance and the geopolitical uncertainty the airline faces, and its website and mobile app.
In response to queries from Sias about the company’s 25.1 per cent stake in Air India, first released on July 17, SIA said the stake remains a pillar of the group’s multi-hub strategy, and that it recognises India’s growth and aviation market potential.
SIA added: “The board will carefully consider any requests for additional capital from Air India, taking into consideration the group’s other capital requirements and Air India’s business strategy.”
It was reported in October 2025 that Air India requested a $1.1 billion capital injection, but SIA said it is not in a position to comment.
SIA noted that Air India continues to face well-publicised challenges, such as the depreciation of the Indian rupee, supply chain disruptions, Pakistan airspace closures and the plane crash in June 2025 that killed 260 people.
But at the same time, Air India is making tangible progress in its transformation efforts across the customer journey and experience, fleet and network growth, on-ground and in-flight products and services, and operational performance, SIA said.
As SIA is a significant minority shareholder, its chief executive officer serves as a non-executive and non-independent director on the Air India board, enabling SIA to provide strategic guidance to its management team and aviation industry expertise to the airline.
Forward guidance and geopolitical uncertainty
Besides Air India, SIA responded to questions about providing forward guidance for the FY 2026/2027 to give shareholders greater visibility.
SIA pointed to uncertain external factors that could affect its financial performance, such as jet fuel prices, foreign exchange movements, demand conditions, and evolving geopolitical and macro-economic developments.
“Given these uncertainties in a highly cyclical and volatile aviation industry, the group does not practise a formal quantitative forward guidance framework,” SIA said, but added that it is committed to being transparent through providing meaningful disclosures.
SIA said its fuel hedging programme helps it to manage the volatility in fuel prices, which more than doubled at the peak of the US-Iran conflict.
Locking in prices for part of its future fuel needs helps it achieve some predictability for its largest single operating cost. Net fuel costs accounted for nearly 30 per cent of the group’s total expenditure in the 2025/2026 financial year.
In response to questions about trade disruptions, SIA said it is monitoring key trade lanes closely and adjusting capacity to meet cargo demand amid the current volatile operating environment.
SIA noted that airfares and passenger yields – the average revenue per passenger for every kilometre flown – have risen across the industry due to the Middle East conflict.
“But these could come under pressure again as capacity is restored and competition intensifies in the airline industry,” SIA said.
Its robust balance sheet, digital capabilities, resilient staff and partnerships with other carriers in key markets will help it navigate intensifying competition, it added.
“SIA’s revenue management framework focuses on maximising total network value rather than individual flight level,” it said.
SIA also responded to some questions on its airline partners. For one, SIA and Vietnam Airlines launched reciprocal codeshare services on flights between Singapore and Vietnam in Oct 2025.
It also signed an agreement in 2024 with Riyadh Air to explore areas for cooperation, such as codeshare agreements, which could complement SIA’s upcoming non-stop flight from Singapore to Riyadh, in Saudi Arabia.
SIA also has a commercial agreement with Scandinavian Airlines to anchor its presence in the Nordic region and to support SIA’s daily service to Copenhagen.
Questions on the website and app
SIA also responded to questions about multi-airline itineraries. A shareholder said that the official website does not have a centralised, public directory of its active interline partners, which creates customer confusion when customers discover unlisted baggage and ticketing agreements with major carriers like KLM during checkout.
SIA said that for itineraries involving multiple airlines, the operating carrier for each flight sector is identified during the booking process, and the conditions of carriage are stated for each flight sector.
Another shareholder asked about performance lag on the KrisFlyer app, especially when many people are on the app during sales periods.
SIA said it continuously reviews and strengthens its digital consumer infrastructure. It added that when it anticipates high traffic, it will review demand forecasts and adjust its systems capacity.
A shareholder also asked about recent reports of SIA crew members facing harassment on flights, and asked if SIA has measures in place to protect the crew.
SIA said its crew members are trained to maintain vigilance and identify potentially disruptive passenger behaviour.
“In cases of unruly or abusive behaviour, SIA will conduct an internal review to assess the incident’s severity. Penalties may range from issuing a warning letter to blacklisting the passenger from future flights.”
The airline also works with authorities to ensure laws are followed, it added.
