Carrier warns impact of fuel cost rise to intensify, says fare hikes do not fully offset rise in jet fuel prices
Airport officials gather near the aircraft ladder attached to the Singapore Airlines aircraft for flight SQ321 parked on the tarmac at Suvarnabhumi airport in Samut Prakan province, Thailand, on May 22, 2024. (Photo: Reuters)
SINGAPORE — Singapore Airlines warned on Thursday that surging fuel costs due to the US-Iran conflict were still "filtering through" and would weigh more heavily in the year ahead, even as it reported a smaller-than-expected 57.4% drop in annual profit.The fallout of higher jet fuel prices on costs was only partially reflected in March, Singapore's flag carrier said in its fiscal 2026 earnings report, which largely captured performance from a period before the conflict in the Middle East.
The group's fuel bills are typically priced on a lagged basis, and the full impact of the surge is expected to feed through in the following year, the airline added.
The closure of the key Strait of Hormuz after the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran in late February has sent jet fuel prices surging far beyond the rise in crude prices, compounding cost pressures across the global aviation industry.
