SIA Group’s March passenger traffic rises amid Middle East disruptions

SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines (SIA) Group’s passenger traffic rose 14.7% year-on-year (YoY) in March, outpacing its passenger capacity increase of 7.2%. The increase helped lift total passenger numbers to a record 42.4 million for the financial year 2025/26 (FY2025/26) ended March 31, 7.7% higher than the record 39.4 million in FY2024/25.

In a bourse filing on Wednesday (April 15), the group said that “The robust passenger traffic growth was supported by the increase in demand for air travel ahead of the Easter holiday in early April, as well as spillover Europe-bound traffic as capacity through Middle East air hubs was affected by the ongoing Middle East conflict.”

The group’s passenger load factor (PLF), the percentage of available seating capacity filled with passengers, was 90.6%. SIA posted a new monthly PLF record of 90.3%, while Scoot recorded a PLF of 91.7%.

Cargo loads also rose 2.4% YoY in March, against a 1.3% capacity decrease. The group said this was partly supported by “spillover volumes amid disruptions to Middle East airspace.”

Amid continued uncertainty in the Middle East conflict, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that the global economy faces a “close call” recession due to escalating energy and geopolitical risks.

Separately, with the current oil and ‌gas crisis, International Energy Agency (IEA) executive director Fatih Birol said he expects countries to turn to renewables very soon. /TISG

Read also: ‘I’m job hugging even harder’: Some Singaporeans share how they’re navigating rising costs amid the Middle East war