SIA Cargo Loses $169 Million

Singapore Airlines’ cargo division lost $168.7 million in its 2009 fiscal year as freight demand plummeted in the three months ending March 31.

The loss at SIA Cargo was a major reason Singapore Airlines parent SIA Group saw its profit fall 57 percent in the year ending in March, to $620.5 million. The group also had an operating loss of $19 million after a $321 million operating profit the year before.

The downturn in the cargo business hit SIA Cargo, one of the world’s largest operators of international freighters, hard in the January-March period, the company’s fiscal fourth quarter.

Cargo traffic, measured in freight metric-ton kilometers flown, fell 16 percent in the three-month period compared to the same period the year before. SIA pulled back capacity by about 9 percent to meet the declining demand.

But pricing also plunged, with cargo yield falling 28 percent from the same January-March period in 2008.

Singapore Airlines flies a large fleet of 747 freighters in its worldwide network, including operations through China, where exports fell sharply toward the end of 2008.