'Our net profit declined due to AI losses but remain committed to Maharja': Singapore Airlines

New Delhi: Air India’s losses may be casting a long shadow on its 25.1% stakeholder Singapore Airlines (SIA) results but the latter on Thursday said it remains “committed” to its investment in the Maharaja. And despite AI facing multiple headwinds like airspace closures and high jet fuel prices, SIA said the Indian airline is both making operational improvements and “elevating” customer experience thought fleet renewal.




While the SIA group on Thursday reported a 39% increase in its full year operating profit to $2.4 billion with revenue reaching record levels of $20,522 million, its “net profit declined due to the absence of a prior year one-off accounting gain, coupled with the share of full year losses from Air India.”




“The (SIA) Group’s net profit declined by $1,594 million (-57.4%) to $1,184 million, primarily due to the absence of the $1,098 million non-cash accounting gain recognised in Nov 2024 upon the completion of the Air India-Vistara merger. The swing from a share of profits of associated companies last year to a loss this year (-$846 million) was due to the group accounting for its share of Air India’s full year losses, versus only four months the previous year,” SIA said in a statement Thursday.




Despite the Maharaja’s financial condition, the trusted airline partner of Tata Sons (which owns the remaining 74.9% stake in AI) remains remains “committed” to its investment in the AI Group “which is a core component of (SIA’s) long-term multi-hub strategy.”




“This strategic investment provides the group with a direct stake in one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing aviation markets, complementing its Singapore hub and strengthening its long-term growth. SIA is working closely with its partner Tata Sons to support Air India’s multi-year transformation programme. Air India faces headwinds such as industry-wide supply chain constraints, air space restrictions, constraints on operations to its key Middle East markets, and elevated jet fuel prices. Nonetheless, it continues to make progress in its fleet renewal and aircraft retrofit program, initiatives to elevate the end-to-end customer experience, and improve its operational performance,” SIA said.




SIA has increased its engagement with AI in recent times after the latter has been battling a series of black swan events one after the other for over a year now. Apart from the headwinds mentioned by SIA, last June AI 171 crash has dealt a serious blow to Air India. In fact, SIA senior VP Vinod Kannan, who was the CEO of erstwhile Vistara, is among the four believed to be in the running to be AI’s next CEO. The other contenders are AI CCO Nipun Aggarwal and two expats.
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