Singapore Airlines posts second quarterly loss

SINGAPORE

Singapore Airlines Ltd. said it posted a loss for a second straight quarter as travel and tourism remained sluggish last quarter.

The carrier had a net loss in the July-September period of 159 million Singapore dollars ($114 million) compared to a profit of SG$324 million a year earlier, it said in a statement Tuesday.

The loss narrowed from SG$307 million in the previous quarter.

Revenue at the world's second-biggest airline by market capitalization fell to SG$3.1 billion for the quarter from SG$4.4 billion a year ago while expenditures dropped to SG$3.3 billion from SG$4.1 billion.

Singapore Airlines flew 4.2 million passengers last quarter, down from 4.9 million a year earlier.

"Advance bookings indicate that demand for air travel has stopped declining and is gradually recovering," the company said in a statement.

The airline has cut flights to the U.S., Europe and Asia, with plans to reduce capacity by 11 percent from April to March 2010.