SIA Group passenger carriage drops 98.6% in July as air travel demand remains 'severely curtailed' amid COVID-19

The SIA Group continues to feel the impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. On Monday, the company released figures which showed three of its carriers continuing to see sharp declines in passenger traffic for July. SIA Group said this was down to "severely curtailed" demand for air travel, with border controls and travel restrictions remaining in place due to COVID-19. Group passenger carriage fell 98.6% year-on-year in July, while group passenger capacity declined 94.3% for the same period. The SIA Group's passenger load factor was at 21.6%, a decline of 64.2% year-on-year. In terms of cargo load factor, all route regions recorded increases in the month of July.cCargo load factor for the SIA Group was 26.5% as the capacity contraction of 60.9% year-on-year outpaced the 43.1% decline in cargo traffic. In July, Singapore Airlines reported a S$1.12b net loss in Q1 after drastically cutting capacity. For Singapore Airlines, its capacity for the month was 93.1% lower compared to July last year, with a “skeletal network in operation” connecting Singapore to 25 metro cities. Passenger carriage declined 98.2% for Singapore Airlines, resulting in a passenger load factor of 22.5%. It carried 27,600 passengers last month, compared with the 1,912,000 passengers it flew in July 2019. <br/>