SINGAPORE (AP) - Singapore Airlines Ltd. said its net profit hit a record 1.389 billion Singapore dollars (US$846 million; euro658.16 million) for the past year - surging 64 percent - as it fended off spiking jet fuel prices and rising competition from Asia's growing number of budget carriers.
The airline's chief executive, Chew Choon Seng, used the company's public earnings announcement to press Australia to open the lucrative trans-Pacific route to Singapore Airlines, saying he was confident Canberra would "do the right thing.''