As per a Reuters report, the proposed conditions, which would be negotiated with Air India’s majority owner Tata Sons, could contain greater board voting power and requirements for the Indian carrier to narrow its losses.

Temasek, Singapore Airlines’ majority shareholder, is looking to stay away from the entire process. Neither would it provide the capital itself nor intervene in the carrier’s decisions concerning Air India.

While Air India is seeking about USD 1.5 billion in fresh equity from its owners, majority holder Tata had already approved a USD 1.1 billion infusion, representing its pro-rata share. Singapore Airlines, on the other hand, holds the remaining 25.1% stake in the former state-owned full-service carrier.

In a statement, Singapore Airlines said its board would carefully evaluate any request for additional capital, taking into account Air India’s business strategy, the group’s operating cash flow, and its other capital requirements.

Singapore Airline’s tough stance also comes amid the airline facing growing pressure back home to justify the increase in its investment in Air India, which posted a USD 2.33 billion loss in the financial year ended March, weighing directly on the Singaporean carrier’s profits.

While Singapore Airlines has lost money on several past overseas investments, what makes its investment in the Indian carrier another tricky prospect is the fact that, as per Tata’s estimates, the business’ turnaround could take up to a decade.

Air India recently appointed former Ethopian Airlines head Tewolde Gebremariam as its new CEO to replace former Singapore Airlines executive Campbell Wilson.

Singapore Airlines has limited formal influence over Air India. Under a 2022 merger agreement that folded its 49%-owned Indian carrier Vistara into ‌Air India, ⁠it received a single board seat, taken up by its CEO Goh Choon Phong.

However, it has a stake of over 25% in the airline, which gives it the power under Indian company law to block special resolutions covering major corporate matters, including mergers, share buybacks, and voluntary winding up.

An opposition Singaporean lawmaker called for Temasek’s funds to refrain from supporting Air India’s funding request.

As of now, Singapore Airlines’ investments in Air India will continue to be funded by its internal resources.

The venture possesses SUSD 10.48 ⁠billion (USD 8.29 billion) in cash reserves and SUSD 3.24 billion in undrawn credit lines as of the end of June.

Singapore’s Senior Minister K. Shanmugam has said while it is up to Singapore Airlines to make decisions on investing in Air India, Temasek expects the airline to make the moves “⁠responsibly.”

It is worth mentioning that Temasek has a significant exposure to India, covering sectors including healthcare, financial services, consumer and technology. The investment giant has cited the South Asian country as a key growth market in its portfolio.

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The statement comes amid growing scrutiny in Singapore over Singapore Airlines’ exposure to Air India, in which it holds a 25.1% stake. Tata Sons owns the remaining 74.9%.

Temasek, which is the majority shareholder of Singapore Airlines, said it viewed the airline’s decision to invest in Air India from a long-term perspective and supported the strategy. It also acknowledged that turning around the former state-owned carrier would involve complex, multi-year operational and integration challenges.

The comments followed reports that Air India is seeking about USD 1.5 billion in fresh equity from Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines.

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Although the manufacturers were reportedly reluctant to suggest worldwide A350 fleet inspections, regulators have now stepped in, as the investigators look into the fuel system of the Cathay Pacific flight that was forced to return to Hong Kong.

A350 fleets operated by Singapore Airlines and Japan Airlines were undergoing preventive maintenance after Cathay Pacific revealed that fuel line repairs were required on 15 of the airline’s 48 A350 aircraft.

Even though the current position seems to indicate that no widespread defect has been found right away, as per a Reuters report, it was too soon to rule out additional research/analysis that might eventually call for other airlines to take action.

The jet headed for Zurich had to return to Hong Kong due to an engine issue that was later found to be caused by a fuel leak, thereby putting both the A350-1000, the larger of the two models in the Airbus A350 family, and its Rolls-Royce XWB-97 engines, under heavy scrutiny.

A flexible pipe feeding a fuel injection nozzle in the XWB-97 engine was found to have been punctured, according to preliminary investigations. Investigators based in Hong Kong are now expected to concentrate on determining whether the hole caused the fuel leak or if it was the result of another issue that hasn’t been found yet.

Meanwhile, Europe’s air safety regulator has now ordered inspections on engines of the A350-1000 jets, saying that it was acting to prevent similar events after consulting regulators and accident investigators in Hong Kong, where Cathay is based, as well as Airbus and engine supplier Rolls-Royce.

“This action is a precautionary measure, based on the information received from the initial investigation of the recent Cathay Pacific serious incident and on the airline’s findings in its own subsequent inspections,” EASA Executive Director Florian Guillermet said in a statement.

EASA also confirmed that the failure of a hose in the fuel system had caused a fire that was quickly tackled by the crew.

“We will continue to follow closely all information that will be made available through the ongoing safety investigation,” Guillermet added.

The move affects the larger of two models of twin-engine A350, the A350-1000, which represents 15% of the A350 fleet or 86 jets. The smaller and widely sold A350-900 is not affected.

EASA has given airlines between three and 30 days to carry out visual checks and measurements on the fuel hoses but did not call for parts to be removed for the work, unless they were found to be damaged. It excluded engines already inspected by Cathay.

Rolls-Royce and Airbus are now working closely with authorities to comply with the planned directive, to minimise any short-term disruption.

EASA said the Cathay Pacific flight powerplant fire had caused heat damage to the engine housing, including ducts used for reverse thrust on landing.

“This condition, if not detected and corrected could, in combination with additional failures, lead to a more severe engine fire and resulting damage to an aeroplane,” it said.

By ordering checks, however, EASA partially overrode efforts by manufacturers to avoid disruptive action on the whole fleet based on their own technical analysis, Reuters stated.

Several airlines have already carried out precautionary inspections on their Airbus A350 fleets, immediately after Cathay Pacific found 15 planes that needed fuel line repairs. The affected aircraft was a five-year-old Airbus A350-1000, which was using Rolls-Royce’s Trent XWB-97 engines.

However, carriers are also inspecting the more popular A350-900 aircraft which use a different engine model.

While airlines like Japan Airlines and Qatar Airways have completed the maintenance checks on their A350-1000 fleets, Air China will perform general engine checks. Singapore Airlines, which has a fleet of 63 A350-900 planes, said it was inspecting the engines on its aircraft but there was no impact on flights. Taiwan’s Starlux, on the other hand, which operates six A350-900s, said it had contacted Rolls-Royce “out of caution” and was awaiting an official reply.

Air France and Lufthansa Group, which also have A350-900s, are reportedly in touch with Rolls-Royce and Airbus and are monitoring the situation closely.

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The job cuts will be made in Singapore Airlines as well as its subsidies SilkAir and Scoot.

Chief Executive Officer Goh Choon Phong told the media, “Having to let go of our valuable and dedicated people is the hardest and most agonizing decision that I have had to make in my 30 years with SIA. The next few weeks will be some of the toughest in the history of the SIA Group.”

“When the battle against Covid-19 began, none of us could have predicted its devastating impact on the entire aviation industry. Eight months on, the number of carriers that have collapsed continues to rise. It is still not clear who will ultimately survive this crisis,” Goh added.

The coronavirus has taken a heavy toll on the global aviation industries with carrier all over the globe are set to lose billions in revenue this year.

In the month of June, Singapore Airlines revealed that it secured an additional $1 billion in credit facilities to help the carrier deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

This is in addition to the $6.32 billion it raised for a rights issue.

It raised around S$900 million through loans on some of its aircraft. Besides that, it also arranged new lines of credit and a short-term loan of around S$500 million with several banks for further liquidity.

It also raised around $542 million as long-term loans by securing some of its Airbus and Boeing aircraft under its fleet. The carrier has raised the loans by securing its Airbus A350-900s and Boeing 878-10s.

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The carrier has raised the loans by securing its Airbus A350-900s and Boeing 878-10s.

So far, Singapore Airlines has raised $7.96 billion in liquidity since the start of the financial year 2020/2021.

According to Bloomberg Intelligence analysts James Teo and Chris Muckensturm, Singapore Airlines’ net loss could widen to S$1.2 billion for the quarter through June due to the coronavirus pandemic. They also said that revenue may slump by 87 percent because of a 96 percent drop in capacity.

It has already suffered losses of around S$732 million as a result of the outbreak.

Last month, Singapore Airlines revealed that it secured an additional $1 billion in credit facilities to help the carrier deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

This is in addition to the $6.32 billion it raised for a rights issue.

Singapore Airlines had raised around S$900 million through loans on some of its aircraft. Besides that, it also arranged new lines of credit and a short-term loan of around S$500 million with several banks for further liquidity.

The carrier said in a statement, “During this period of high uncertainty, Singapore Airlines will continue to explore additional means to shore up liquidity as necessary.”

Singapore Airlines cancelled most of its operations earlier this year to help curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

A report by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) revealed that the global aviation sector would lose around $314 billion in revenue this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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The shareholders at NokScoot Airlines are expected to hold a meeting on July 14 with regard to the liquidation and also to appoint a liquidator.

NokScoot, a joint venture between Thailand’s Nok Air and Singapore Airlines’ Scoot, has retrenched 425 employees with full benefits.

The carrier said in a statement that it does not see a path to recovery and sustainable growth for NokScoot.

NokScoot Airlines said, “Thailand remains an important market for the Singapore Airlines Group. Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and Scoot are committed to continuing to serve customers in Thailand with their existing operations.”

The coronavirus pandemic has forced carriers all over the globe to cancel operations and ground their flights to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Last month, the Central Bankruptcy Court in Bangkok accepted Thai Airways’ bankruptcy petition, according to reports in the media. The whole process of its debt rehabilitation is expected to take up to five years.

Thai Airways became the first airline in the Southeast Asia region to file for bankruptcy after the coronavirus pandemic hit the aviation sector worldwide.

The carrier appointed five people to jointly hold the position of plan preparer during its business rehabilitation process.

Thai Airways chairman Chaiyapruk Didyasarin and acting president Chakkrit Parapuntakul have been appointed, along with three newly appointed board members: former president Piyasvasti Amranand, as well as Boontuck Wungcharoen and Pirapan Salirathavibhaga. EY Corporate Advisory Services will also be involved in the process.

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This is in addition to the $6.32 billion it raised for a rights issue.

Singapore Airlines had raised around S$900 million through loans on some of its aircraft. Besides that, it also arranged new lines of credit and a short-term loan of around S$500 million with several banks for further liquidity.

The carrier said in a statement, “During this period of high uncertainty, Singapore Airlines will continue to explore additional means to shore up liquidity as necessary.”

A recent media report suggests that Singapore Airlines will not let go of any of its employees as it weathers the coronavirus crisis.

Singapore Airlines cancelled most of its operations earlier this year to help curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. However, Singapore Airlines and its subsidiary SilkAir have restored some flights this month and are operating at 6 percent of capacity.

A report by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) revealed that the global aviation sector would lose around $314 billion in revenue this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In the month of March, the carrier raised around S$19 billion in funding to help the carrier deal with the global lockdown caused by the novel coronavirus, media reports said.

Temasek, which is Singapore Airlines’ biggest shareholder, revealed that it would underwrite the sale of shares and convertible bonds for up to S$15 billion to help the carrier fight the coronavirus.

The additional S$4 billion would be secured in the form of a loan by the carrier from  DBS Bank.

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Reportedly, other investors besides Temasek, who could potentially acquire stakes in Virgin Atlantic include Greybull Capital, Apollo Global Management, Centerbridge Partners, and Cerberus Capital Management.

Currently, Virgin Group owns a 51 percent stake in Virgin Atlantic, whereas, the remaining 49 percent is owned by Delta Air Lines.

It is noteworthy that Temasek was initially a stakeholder in Virgin Atlantic. In 2012, Singapore Airlines (SIA), which is more than 50 percent owned by Temasek, had sold its 49 percent stake in Virgin Atlantic to Delta Air Lines for $360 million.

Earlier, the carrier announced that it will lay off around 3000 employees and is also seeking a government bailout package, as the global aviation sector deals with the coronavirus pandemic. Since March, major carriers including Virgin Atlantic cancelled operations and grounded its flights, in order to help curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The carrier is also planning to trim the fleet from 45 planes to 36.

“In order for us to qualify for financial support from HM Government or the private sector it is critical that we demonstrate that we have taken all self-help measures in a timely fashion so we can secure the funding we need to survive,” Virgin Atlantic said in a memo to employees.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) recently announced that the global aviation sector could lose around $314 billion in revenue this year due to the coronavirus.

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The estimated losses for this year are 10 percent higher than previously estimated, according to the Airport Council International (ACI).

The council further revealed that airports in the Middle Eastern region will register a 53 percent decline in revenues, similarly, airports in the Asia-Pacific region too will register a 59 percent decline. Both regions stand to lose two billion passengers, about 400 million more travelers than previously forecasted.

The aviation sectors in both the regions, which are one of the largest in the world, have halted major operations since March to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Major carriers such as Etihad, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, and others have cancelled all passenger flights to fight the crisis.

ACI World’s preliminary data also revealed that traffic at 26 airports from the Middle East and the Asia Pacific remains the lowest, recording a year-on-year decline of 92 percent in April.

Last month, IATA revealed that the global aviation sector is set to lose around $314 billion in revenue this year, which is around $62 billion higher than its previous forecast.

IATA director general Alexandre de Juniac told the media, “We have never seen a downturn this deep before. In our latest scenario, full-year passenger revenues plummet 55 percent compared to 2019, while traffic falls 48 percent. In other words, half of our business disappears. That’s catastrophic.”

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With that, Singapore has 205 flights  stationed while Hong Kong has recorded 178. Madrid has 158 idle planes and New York has only 40 planes stationed at the moment. In fact, New York is one of the busiest airports in the world.

Bruce Carman, chief underwriting officer at Hive Aero, said in the report, “There will be airline failures, meaning unpaid premiums and bad debt Carman added that airlines are likely to seek refunds of their premiums due to the huge drop in passenger numbers.”

More recently,  it was reported Singapore Airlines is facing challenges as it is the major carrier to ground its aircraft, with a few flights in operations. This points to the fact that the airline  will slash flight capacity by 96 percent until April.

Singapore Airlines is one of Asia’s largest international carriers.The airline said in a statement that it is uncertain whether it would resume normal operations soon. It is reported that Asia’s airlines might lose $60 billion in revenue from slashing flight capacity because of the pandemic.

The number of flights operating globally have been dramatically reduced with at least 65 airlines slashing their flight capacity to at least 95 percent, media reports said. This implies that the aviation industry might face a financial crisis.

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