Transportation Industry

Company Watch - Singapore Airlines

AirGuide Business, Feb 18, 2008

Feb 18, 2008

China Eastern working with Temasek to persuade minority shareholders. China Eastern Airlines continues to press on in its effort to reach a deal with Singapore Airlines and plans to cooperate with Singapore Air parent Temasek to fashion terms that will be acceptable to minority shareholders, who vetoed the sale of a 24% stake last month. China Eastern is preparing for the second minority shareholders conference even though it has yet to reach a revised deal with Singapore Air/Temasek. The latter recently confirmed that it will work with China Eastern to win over minority shareholders. Singapore Air repeatedly had said it would not raise its offer. Meantime, the Shanghai-based carrier noted that it has made no progress with Air China parent CNAC, which presented its own offer for China Eastern that trumped Singapore Air's. Cathay Pacific Airways, a close ally of Air China, offered its support to the bid earlier this week. According to the Financial Times, Cathay CEO Tony Tyler said his airline wanted to avoid any dilution of its 17.5% cross-shareholding with Air China, which would occur "if they were to issue a load of shares in order to buy China Eastern or a big chunk of China Eastern." He also said that better management would have little difficulty in turning China Eastern around. Feb 14, 2008

Rolls-Royce announced that Singapore Airlines ordered Trent 900s for nine additional Airbus A380s along with an accompanying TotalCare services agreement. Singapore Air already had ordered the powerplant for its original 10 aircraft, two of which have entered service. Financial terms were not disclosed. Feb 15, 2008

Seven video files were found on Singapore Airlines pilot Ng's computer, some of which contained footage of rape, sexual violence and children engaged in sexual activity, the documents said. The maximum sentence in Australia for offences involving child pornography is a fine of AUD$275,000 and 10 years imprisonment. While it is not an offence to bring pornographic material into Australia, an Australian customs spokeswoman said it was a crime to bring in "objectionable" or "abhorrent" pornography into the country. The pilot was one of three men caught last week by Australian custom officials for importing "offensive" pornography. Local media in Singapore said one of these was a Malaysia Airlines pilot. Feb 13, 2008

Singapore Airlines Pilot Fined For Laptop Child Porn. A Singapore Air pilot was fined AUD$12,000 (USD$10,860) for trying to bring child pornography into Australia, court documents showed on Wednesday. Ng Kok Yauw, 40, captained a Singapore Airlines flight last Saturday from Singapore to Adelaide, when customs officials searched his laptop and found video clips of child pornography, Adelaide court documents seen by Reuters said. Ng, who appeared in court on Monday, pleaded guilty to charges of importing banned material and making a false statement to a customs officer. He could not be reached for comment but Singapore Airlines, the world's second-largest airline by market value, said the airline was conducting its own investigation. Feb 13, 2008

JADE won US FAA STC authority under the Singapore-US Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement for cabin interior reconfiguration modification on Singapore Airlines Boeing 747s. SIA, SIA Engineering and Singapore Jamco participated in JADE's application. This is the first STC granted under the Singapore-US BASA. Feb 15, 2008

Analysts expected Singapore Air to make a second bid for China Eastern Airlines, or to target smaller regional Chinese carriers, to seize routes in the world's fastest growing aviation market. The International Air Transport Association said on Sunday that global airlines are likely to see a further profit cut in 2008 as the credit crisis deepens and fuel costs remain near record highs. Feb 17, 2008

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