The project leverages Singtel&rsquo s technical expertise in consortium partnerships and submarine cable investments. 

SINGAPORE &ndash Singtel and China Telecom Global will co-lead a consortium to build an undersea fibre-optic cable system worth US$300 million (S$421 million) to support economic growth in South-east Asia.

 

The consortium includes four other regional carriers: China Telecommunications and Brunei&rsquo s Unified National Networks, as well as the Philippines&rsquo Globe Telecom and Dito Telecommunity.

 

The submarine system, known as the Asia Link Cable System (ALC), will span 6,000km and connect Singapore and Hong Kong with Brunei, the Philippines, and Hainan, China. It is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2025. 

 

On Tuesday, Singtel said it will work with its consortium partners to enhance Internet connectivity and satisfy rising demand for higher bandwidth solutions in the region.

 

Citing an increasing reliance on higher bandwidth connectivity within South-east Asia, the telco believes the ALC will help to reduce dependency on any single network provider in the consortium as it adopts an open cable system design. It will also enable timely capacity upgrades to meet evolving needs, added Singtel.

 

The submarine system will thus unlock more opportunities for innovation and enhance digital experiences, said Mr Bill Chang, chief executive of Singtel&rsquo s group enterprise and regional data centre business.

 

The project leverages Singtel&rsquo s technical expertise in consortium partnerships and submarine cable investments. These include the 19,200km South-east Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 6 submarine cable system, which is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2025.

SINGAPORE &ndash Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Virgin Australia took their strategic partnership to the next level with the resumption of sale of the Australian carrier&rsquo s codeshare flights to a host of destinations on SIA&rsquo s network.

 

Customers can now make bookings on virginaustralia.com for seamless travel between Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe and beyond on SIA flights.

 

SIA said the move was the next step in returning the carrier&rsquo s partnership to pre-pandemic operations, following the resumption of redemption bookings and mileage point conversions for KrisFlyer and Velocity members in 2022.

 

While miles and points earned remained unchanged throughout the pandemic, the latest announcement unlocks the full rewards and benefits of the partnership for customers as demand for international travel continues to improve.

 

The two airlines formed their strategic partnership in 2011, and extended this agreement for a further five years in 2022. The partnership enabled travellers to access a multitude of destinations across both airlines&rsquo networks seamlessly.

 

Virgin Australia will codeshare on 42 destinations covering 33 countries on SIA&rsquo s network, including Ho Chi Minh City, Seoul, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Paris, London and Jakarta as well as SIA&rsquo s home base, Singapore.

 

Meanwhile, SIA continues to offer codeshare flights on 64 routes covering 31 destinations on Virgin Australia&rsquo s domestic and international network, including Queenstown in New Zealand.

 

SIA has been operating to Australia since April 1967 and has grown its operations from a once-weekly service to Perth and Sydney to become the largest foreign carrier (excluding trans-Tasman airlines) to fly to Australia by schedule and capacity.

 

SIA is now operating about 68 per cent of its pre-Covid-19 schedule to Australia. Together with Scoot, the group currently operates about 73 per cent of its pre-pandemic schedule. Capacity-wise in the Australia market, SIA is at around 78 per cent of pre-Covid-19 capacity, while the group is at about 83 per cent of pre-Covid-19 capacity.

 

SIA&rsquo s current schedule comprises 111 weekly flights to seven Australian cities. This includes 28 flights a week each to Sydney and Melbourne, and 21 flights a week each to Brisbane and Perth.

 

Founded by billionaire Richard Branson, Virgin Australia is now one of the country&rsquo s largest airlines, employing more than 7,000 people and operating both domestic and international services.

 

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) expects yields, a proxy for airfares, could decline in 2023 as rival airlines bring back planes idled during the pandemic and add capacity, a senior executive said on Monday.

 

&ldquo We would not expect yields to stay at the same elevated levels we were at in 2022,&rdquo SIA executive vice president, Commercial Lee Lik Hsin told analysts and media of the outlook on an earnings call.

 

The airline on Friday swung to a second-quarter profit and declared its first dividend in three years as international borders reopened and travel demand rebounded strongly in the three months ended on Sept 30

 

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) : C6L +1.31%is pursuing a &ldquo first off the blocks&rdquo strategy as it eyes more spoils from the global reopening, including mainland China&rsquo s eventual return to the skies.

 

Chief executive officer Goh Choon Phong said at an earnings briefing on Monday (Nov 7) that the mainboard-listed airline group has been gearing up for the recovery of air travel while waiting for the borders to reopen, including keeping its resources operationally ready and injecting capacity ahead of demand.

 

Despite it expecting to operate at only 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels by December, for example, almost all the group&rsquo s cabin crew and pilots will be back in active service at that time.

 

Hence, it is able to scale up further to seize the pent-up demand from mainland China&rsquo s re-opening, even if that should happen in the near term, said Lee Lik Hsin, SIA&rsquo s executive vice-president for commercial at the briefing. SIA also learned to be nimble during the pandemic and is able to switch around its network to ride on the reopening of the world&rsquo s most populated country and second-largest economy.

 

Rumours of China soon ending its zero-Covid policy, which has largely kept its borders shut and restrictive measures in place, have been swirling recently.

 

SIA has recently been allowed by the Chinese government to add flights to the country, said Lee. Despite that, the number of flights to the East Asian nation is still &ldquo a far cry&rdquo from pre-Covid levels. Due to the constrained supply, however, the Chinese routes are now doing &ldquo very well&rdquo for the Singapore carrier group.

 

SIA reported high passenger yields and load factors in general when it posted record-high quarterly and half-year operating profits last Friday. Net profit for the quarter and half-year to September stood at S$556.5 million and S$926.9 million respectively, on a quarterly top line of S$4.5 billion and a half-yearly top line of S$8.4 billion.

 

SIA noticed business travel demand recovery in the second quarter, after lagging behind leisure travel the quarter before, Lee said.

 

It has declared an interim dividend of S$0.10 a share for payment on Dec 22. However, it has no stated dividend policy, noted the CEO in response to a query.

 

DBS, in a note to clients last Friday, wrote that SIA&rsquo s second-quarter earnings &ldquo surpassed expectations&rdquo , while its half-year net profit was at 60 per cent of the research house&rsquo s forecast for the financial year.

 

Despite it having flagged the carrier&rsquo s potential resumption of dividend payment, DBS said it was still &ldquo a surprise to the market, and should boost sentiment on the stock&rdquo . 

 

SIA is tempering market expectations, however, as it does not expect passenger yield, a revenue metric, to stay elevated at levels in 2022, as rivals catch up in ramping up capacity. Lee said: &ldquo 2022 is a unique year, (with a) lack of supply and pent-up demand.&rdquo

 

Goh, who attended the briefing virtually as he was recovering from Covid, said it is not certain what the impact of rising interest rates and a stronger US dollar would be on passenger and freight demand.   However, where capital expenditure priced in US dollars is concerned, there is no impact at the moment, assured executive vice-president for finance and strategy Tan Kai Ping.