SINGAPORE Airlines Ltd (SIA), flush with US$16bil (RM66.74bil) raised since the start of the pandemic, thanks to help from a state investor, is in a position of dominance among its South-East Asian rivals as they downsize and restructure.
The crisis threatened the survival of hub carriers that lack domestic markets such as SIA, Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd and Dubai’s Emirates. Indeed, Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong last year said the government would “spare no effort” to ensure SIA made it through the pandemic.