$SIA (C6L.SG)$ As for the China market which has yet to reco...

As for the China market which has yet to recover fully, the SIA chief is confident that demand will rebound, just like other regions whose borders reopened earlier than the North Asian country. He said an increase in bookings was observed after Singaporeans were allowed to travel visa-free again to China.

The travel fair, which SIA and Scoot have organised to offer over 370,000 discounted tickets, has also attracted “overwhelming attendance”, including bookings to China, he said.

The group will serve 23 destinations in China by December, compared with 25 destinations before the pandemic.

When asked if staff would continue to receive a bumper bonus this financial year, Goh pointed out that this aspect of the remuneration is determined by a formula agreed with the labour union. The formula is largely based on the performance of SIA.

SIA rewarded eligible employees with a profit-sharing bonus of 6.65 months following the group’s record earnings of S$2.2 billion for the financial year to March 2023, and a maximum total of 1.5 months of ex-gratia bonus in recognition of their hard work and sacrifices during the pandemic.

While the airline group recently posted its highest-ever half-year earnings of S$1.4 billion (up 55.4 per cent), Goh pointed out that the airline industry’s profits are subject to volatility.