Singapore Airlines net profit for the financial year ending March 31, 2019 has plummeted by 47.5% to S$683 million, from S$1,301.6 million a year earlier.
The airline has blamed higher fuel prices and costs incurred in preparation for its regional arm SilkAir’s merger with the parent airline.
The restructuring of SilkAir has impacted costs, as well as the regional arm recently changing its fleet from Airbus to Boeing. Before the worldwide grounding of Boeing 737 Max aircraft following the Ethiopian Airlines crash back in March, SilkAir operated six Max jets.
Despite the plunge in profit, the group reported a record full year revenue of S$16.3 billion, compared to S$15.8 billion a year ago, attributing the performance to its transformation initiatives.
The group’s operating profit for the full-year came in at S$1.07 billion.