SINGAPORE AIRLINES TAKES DELIVERY OF LAST A380
Sydney,Australia : Singapore Airlines Ltd receives its 19th Airbus SAS A380 on Thursday, leaving the biggest buyer of jumbo jets with none on order for the first time in 30 years.
The handover for the 409-seat aircraft in Toulouse, France, comes as the airline builds future growth around smaller long- haul planes amid falling passenger numbers and competition from Gulf carriers. The company is also boosting its focus on regional routes with unit SilkAir ordering 54 Boeing Co. 737 planes because of rising Asian travel.
“Singapore Air probably won’t be spending so much on long- haul now,” said Rigan Wong, an analyst at Citigroup Inc in Hong Kong. “It doesn’t make sense in terms of the economic growth story.”
The carrier has bought 112 A380s and Boeing Co. 747s since 1972 as it developed a global network alongside a government push to turn the city-state into a hub linking Europe, Asia and Australia. The strategy has faltered over the past few years as Middle Eastern cities led by Dubai lure business with similar plans.
Dubai-owned Emirates, which first flew in 1985, has become the world’s largest international airline as it works through orders for 90 A380s.
“Singapore Airlines was one of the major successes and sources of pride in Singapore’s economic development,” said Garry Rodan, a professor specialising in the city-state’s economic history at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia. Emirates now has a similar role as a “state-linked company that’s trying to exploit its particular location” between Asia and Europe, he said.
06/09/2012 : Gulf News
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