Tcas climb
27th Feb 2003, 05:54
SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA), Asia's most profitable carrier, expects to place aircraft orders this year to replace older planes and expand capacity.
'We have requested proposals for new aircraft as part of our ongoing strategy of fleet modernisation and maintaining steady capacity growth,' SIA said in an e-mail response to a query yesterday.
'We expect to place orders later this year and will release more details at the appropriate time.'
Sales at the world's two biggest aircraft makers, Airbus and Boeing, have fallen as global economies slowed and international air travel slumped after the September 2001 terrorist attacks.
Concern about a possible Iraq war has also held back aircraft orders this year.
'This is the best time for them to buy, and they should be able to get a significant discount,' said Mr Jim Eckes, managing director of consultancy Indoswiss Aviation.
'Both Boeing and Airbus are hungry and the industry is at a bottom now.'
Boeing expects deliveries to fall 27 per cent this year to 280 airliners. Airbus delivered 325 planes in 2001, 303 aircraft last year and said last month that it may miss a target of 300 for this year.
Airbus spokesman Felix Chan declined to comment, while Boeing spokesman Mark Hooper could not be reached.
SIA shares closed unchanged at $9.55 yesterday.
The carrier operates 93 twin-aisle passenger aircraft from both manufacturers, with 34 more on order.
SIA did not disclose which aircraft types it was considering, though it did say that it may look at models it did not already operate.
An article posted on the ATWOnline website yesterday reported, without citing anybody, that SIA wants to replace all of its A310-300 planes, and some of its older Boeing 747 planes.
SIA has nine A310-300s and 38 Boeing 747-400s, according to its website.--Bloomberg News
From: The Straits Times (http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/money/story/0%2C4386%2C174028%2C00.html)
'We have requested proposals for new aircraft as part of our ongoing strategy of fleet modernisation and maintaining steady capacity growth,' SIA said in an e-mail response to a query yesterday.
'We expect to place orders later this year and will release more details at the appropriate time.'
Sales at the world's two biggest aircraft makers, Airbus and Boeing, have fallen as global economies slowed and international air travel slumped after the September 2001 terrorist attacks.
Concern about a possible Iraq war has also held back aircraft orders this year.
'This is the best time for them to buy, and they should be able to get a significant discount,' said Mr Jim Eckes, managing director of consultancy Indoswiss Aviation.
'Both Boeing and Airbus are hungry and the industry is at a bottom now.'
Boeing expects deliveries to fall 27 per cent this year to 280 airliners. Airbus delivered 325 planes in 2001, 303 aircraft last year and said last month that it may miss a target of 300 for this year.
Airbus spokesman Felix Chan declined to comment, while Boeing spokesman Mark Hooper could not be reached.
SIA shares closed unchanged at $9.55 yesterday.
The carrier operates 93 twin-aisle passenger aircraft from both manufacturers, with 34 more on order.
SIA did not disclose which aircraft types it was considering, though it did say that it may look at models it did not already operate.
An article posted on the ATWOnline website yesterday reported, without citing anybody, that SIA wants to replace all of its A310-300 planes, and some of its older Boeing 747 planes.
SIA has nine A310-300s and 38 Boeing 747-400s, according to its website.--Bloomberg News
From: The Straits Times (http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/money/story/0%2C4386%2C174028%2C00.html)