SIA Group has reported a net profit of S$149m (US$109.3m) for the June quarter in its fiscal first period, down 57% year-over-year from net profit of $346.5m in the year-ago period. SIA Group earned $193m in operating profit. Year-over-year, profits fell $212m despite an 8.3% increase in passenger traffic, and total passenger and cargo revenue up $178m. SIA—which said increasing fuel prices “adversely affected” its operating performance—reported that fuel costs rose 39.3% to $26 per barrel and total fuel costs for the group rose by $312m before hedging. This resulted a 5.6% YOY increase of group expenditure of $3.7b. The group added that ex-fuel costs were 1.5% higher, partly because of expansion by subsidiaries SilkAir and Scoot. <br/>
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One of Aimia’s biggest investors has some simple advice for the frequent-flyer program: Say yes to an unsolicited takeover from a group led by Air Canada to escape an “existential crisis.” “It behoves the board to negotiate the very best deal they can for shareholders and other parties, but at the end of the day to not consummate something here would be suicidal,” said Hanif Mamdani, who runs a hedge fund at a unit of Royal Bank of Canada. Mamdani described the C$250m (US$191m) cash offer for the Aeroplan loyalty program as a “turn-key solution” to most of Aimia’s biggest problems. Aimia has been in trouble since May last year when Air Canada said it would withdraw from Aeroplan and start its own rewards plan in 2020. <br/>
SAS cancelled 25 more flights at the weekend, and suggested a further 40 departures could bite the dust in the coming week. Earlier this month it emerged that SAS had cancelled around 700 flights in a 3-month period between April and June due to staff shortages. And Sunday the airline published information on its website explaining that a further 40 flights would be cancelled this week, before subsequently deleting the post without explanation, SVT reports. SAS was “too ambitious” in its planning for the summer, according to their group director. “We have been too ambitious in planning our trip program this summer. In hindsight I wish we had been more careful. The problem is being taken seriously,” Lars Sandahl Sørensen said. <br/>
Air India has sought INR21.21b (US$309m) of additional equity from the govt for the fiscal year 2018-19 to make pending payments to its vendors, a source at the airline said Monday. Air India owes about INR18b to its vendors, including lessors and banks that have demanded payment from the beleaguered airline, after the govt's unsuccessful efforts to find a buyer for its 76% stake. The airline expects to receive the additional equity within the next 7 to 10 days after which it will be able to clear all dues, the source said, adding that this is above the INR6.5b it has already received for the year. The govt will continue to support the loss-making airline's financial requirements while it works on alternatives, junior civil aviation minister Jayant Sinha had said, without giving a specific timeline for a new plan. <br/>
United Airlines said Monday that tiny Moab, Utah is one of 34 destinations the carrier has recently added service to — or will soon begin serving — as part of its rapidly expanding route network. The biggest addition is a route from United’s hub at Washington, D.C.’s Dulles International to Miami that will launch Dec 19, with 1 daily nonstop flight in each direction on an Airbus A-312. During peak holiday travel from Dec 24 through Jan 6, 2019, United will increase the frequency on the new route to twice daily in each direction. A spokesman for United said the airline previously offered no service from the Washington, D.C. area to MIA. Given United’s new emphasis on expanding connectivity, the carrier’s top brass decided that IAD-MIA was a route the airline no longer could afford not to provide. <br/>