Delivery delays to shrink Singapore Airlines Group fleet

Photo: Ton Jochems - 


Singapore Airlines Group (SIA) says it plans to have 204 aircraft in service across its two carriers, Singapore Airlines (SQ, Singapore Changi) and Scoot, by March 31, 2025 - a net loss of one aircraft compared to September 30, 2024. This is also five aircraft fewer than the group's May 2024 guidance, and it has blamed delivery delays for the shortfall.
In notes accompanying the release of its half-yearly results last week, Singapore Airlines expects to take delivery of one A350-900 by the end of March and will remove two B737-800s from the fleet in preparation for lease returns. Scoot has recently taken delivery of an E190-E2 and expects another two by the end of this financial year (March 31, 2025). However, the low-cost carrier will also remove three A320-200s from service by March in preparation for lease returns.

Speaking at a half-yearly briefing, Balagopal Kunduvara, vice president for financial services at the group, said the difference between actual deliveries and the May guidance was because of five aircraft due for delivery this financial year being reshuffled to deliver in 2025 or 2026.

The ch-aviation fleets module reveals that Singapore Airlines has outstanding orders for one A350-900, seven A350Fs, thirteen B737-8s, thirty-one B777-9s, and five B787-10s. Scoot has twelve A320-200Ns, six A321-200NX, two B787-8s, one B787-9, and five E190-E2s due. All up, SIA is expecting 83 aircraft and has a projected fleet capital expenditure of SGD2.3 billion Singapore dollars (USD1.72 billion) this financial year, rising to SGD4 billion (USD2.99 billion) over the next two financial years. Kunduvara said these figures are based on contracted positions with the manufacturers.
"We've seen Boeing talking in October about delivery of the B777X happening only in 2026," he said. "We can only determine the exact impact on our projections once we have certainty on the delivery positions."

CEO Goh Choon Phong said the B777X delivery delays were a factor in the recent decision to spend SGD1.1 billion (USD822 million) on cabin upgrades across forty-three A350-900s.

"We usually will have some messages from Boeing on their expectations," he said on the B777X delays. "The way we have been planning has always been to look at what Boeing tells us. We will plan for something that could potentially be worse than that and we will see what are the levers we could pull in order to make up for any capacity shortfall. We will continue to do that."

Separately, Scoot says its will start flights to three new destinations, including E2 flights to Phu Quoc from December 20, 2024, and Padang from January 6, 2025. A320-200 services to Shantou will begin on January 16. However, flights to Nanchang International will cease on February 14, 2025.

Ch Aviation