World’s best airport falls silent: Singapore’s aviation faces COVID crunch

Asia’s economic powerhouse, the tiny city-state of Singapore took an unconventional approach to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. While the case count has reduced significantly, one of the country’s biggest assets as an aviation hub, has crumbled.

Seven months and thirteen million cases later, the world is getting no respite from COVID-19. The severity of the pandemic’s economic impact has seemingly dwarfed all previous economic depressions. Global aviation has been one of the worst-hit industries. Revenue losses are estimated to hit $419 billion. The year 2020 has already seen more cancellation of over 7.5 million flights globally. A major aviation hub, Singapore too is feeling the heat, needing government aid and massive restructuring to barely stay afloat.

On January 23, 2020, Singapore became the sixth country to encounter the novel coronavirus. Six days after reporting its first case of COVID-19, the nation began implementing restrictions on incoming travelers. On March 22, a day after the first two COVID-19 deaths were confirmed, borders were shut to short-term visitors and some foreign laborers. Owing to drastically reduced demands, border closures, and travel restrictions, Singapore Changi Airport decided to close two of its four terminal buildings, Terminal 2 in April and Terminal 4 in May. Plans for the construction of the airport’s fifth terminal were also put on hold for two years. The world’s best airport fell silent.

HealthLEADS runs the numbers behind Singapore’s air traffic in the first half of the year.

On March 23, 2020, flag-carrier Singapore Airlines and its subsidiary Silk Air slashed down their capacities by as much as 96%. The group’s low-cost airline Scoot also suspended most of its network. As many as 185 aircrafts out of the total fleet of 196 were grounded. With flights significantly curtailed, SIA agreed to provide 300 of its staff to help with possible manpower shortages at hospitals within Singapore.

A June 1 announcement communicated the airline’s intention to restart services to twelve destinations worldwide bringing down flight reductions from 96% to 94%. Later that month, transit facilities through Changi were also allowed for passengers flying from certain Australian and New Zealand cities. June’s flight stats for Singapore airlines remain 76% below 2019 levels. On June 30, 2019, Singapore Airlines operated 278 flights. In 2020, however, the number dropped to 65.

Dismal financial numbers between January and March of 2020 eroded SIA Group’s strong performance in the first nine months of the fiscal year 2019-20, consequently registering a net loss of $212 million. In the single biggest rescue for an airline in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a rescue package worth $13.27 billion was put together for Singapore Airlines by the state investor.

World Health Organization has warned that the worst of this pandemic is yet to come. In an outlook that is as bleak for the aviation industry, experts suggest that it may take up to two years to regain pre-pandemic performance numbers.