SIA to cut fleet

Singapore Airlines will cut 17 per cent of its fleet and is exploring other cost-saving measures due to the global economic downturn which has hit travel and cargo demand, according to Gulf News.

Singapore airline( SIA), said in a statement that it will decommission 17 aircraft over the financial year from April 2009 to March 2010, it had originally planned to decommission four before the global downturn hit major markets.

"The drop in air transportation has been sharp and swift," SIA chief executive Chew Choon Seng said in the statement.

"Given the falls of over 20 percent that we have seen recently in air cargo shipments and the tradition of demand for air travel following closely behind trends on the cargo side of business, we have to face the reality that 2009 is going to be a very difficult year." Chew said.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) had 102 passenger aircraft in its fleet as of February 1.

Shukor yusof, an aviation analyst with Standard and Poor’s said: "It’s going to get worse…It is likely that layoffs will come next."

SIA chief executive Chew said job cuts would be a last resort but management has met with labour unions about plans to cut costs.