Singapore Airlines 2001 Annual Report Download - page 8

Chairman’s Statement
SIA’s fleet renewal programme is one of its
hallmarks... but even by SIA's standards, it was
a remarkable year for aircraft orders.
The year ending 31 March 2001 was one
of contrasting fortunes. SIA continued to
grow through alliance membership and
equity participation, performed well
financially, and proudly announced a series
of aircraft orders, including the much-
anticipated order for the 'super jumbo'
Airbus A380. But in the midst of these
laudable achievements came the Airline’s
first fatal accident, which happened in
Taipei on 31 October 2000.
The year began well, with SIA becoming
the 11th member of the Star Alliance on
1 April. In the same year, SIA acquired a
25 per cent equity interest in Air New
Zealand Ltd (ANZ) in class B shares, in
two tranches of 8.3 per cent from the
market in April and 16.7 per cent from
Brierley Investments Ltd in August. The
Brierley transaction was subject to certain
conditions, one of them being that Air
New Zealand, which already owned 50
per cent of the Australian carrier, Ansett,
must acquire the remaining 50 per cent
to become the sole owner. This was duly
accomplished. Consequently, SIA
effectively became the 25 per cent owner
of two airlines, Air New Zealand and
Ansett, both of whom are Star Alliance
members.
SIA’s fleet renewal programme is one of
its hallmarks and has contributed much
to the success of the Airline over the past
two decades, but even by SIA's standards,
it was a remarkable year for aircraft orders.
In September, the Airline announced that
it would buy 25 A380 aircraft worth
US$8.6 billion, 10 of them on firm order
and 15 on option. The A380 will have a
seating capacity about 40 per cent greater
than that of the Boeing B747-400, which
is currently the largest aircraft in SIA's
fleet. SIA will be the first airline to operate
this massive aircraft when it joins the fleet
in early 2006.
A month later, SIA announced a firm order
for six B747-400 freighters, worth US$1.3
billion, plus nine more B747s on option.
This was followed in February 2001 by a
US$4 billion order for 20 aircraft from the
B777 family, 10 firm and 10 on option,
to replace the A310s on regional routes
and cater to future growth. Thus, in
the space of just six months, SIA had
announced plans to buy up to 60 aircraft
worth US$13.9 billion. Taking into account
aircraft spares and spare Rolls-Royce Trent
900 series engines ordered to support the
A380 operation, the sum exceeded
US$14 billion.
In October, SIA scaled new heights and
experienced its darkest hour in the matter
of a few weeks. For the first time, it was
ranked as the world's most admired airline
in Fortune magazine's prestigious annual
survey. This was followed by an almost
clean sweep of the Business Traveller
Asia-Pacific 2000 Annual Travel Awards,
including 'Best International Airline'. But
in the very last hour of October, according
to Singapore time, the Airline's proud
accident-free record came to an end on
a closed runway in Taipei. SIA received
praise and much goodwill for its handling
of the crisis, and it has pledged to recover
and emerge an even better and stronger
6 SIA annual report 00/01