SIA slides following govt travel directive
Fiona Lam
Singapore
SHARES of Singapore Airlines (SIA) fell S$0.46 or 6.4 per cent to close at S$6.74 on Monday, after the government announced new measures to reduce the spread of Covid-19.
From 11.59pm on Monday, all travellers entering Singapore with recent travel history to Asean countries, Japan, Switzerland or the UK in the last 14 days will have to comply with a new 14-day stay-home notice. Furthermore, the government has advised all Singaporeans to defer non-essential travel abroad. This will curtail further the leisure travel market.
SIA has slashed more than 15 per cent of its flight capacity due to the virus outbreak. These cuts have affected destinations including New York, Rome and China, with most lasting until May, while some flights to Christchurch and San Francisco will be affected in June as well.
SIA is waiving all rebooking fees for tickets issued on or before March 15, 2020 for travel up to May 31, 2020, the flag carrier said late on Sunday night.
Customers can also cancel their existing flight itineraries, retain the value of their tickets and rebook their travel at a later date when they are able to firm up new travel plans, SIA noted in its press statement.
For the rebooking, the new flight itinerary should be completed by March 31, 2021.
This new policy will enable SIA customers to defer their travel plans amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
While all rebooking fees will be waived, a fare difference may apply for the new itinerary.
"SIA will continue to review its waiver policy and retains the flexibility to extend the cut-off date of May 31, 2020 as it assesses the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak in the coming weeks," the airline said.
For all new SIA and SilkAir tickets issued from March 15 to 31, 2020, SIA will also waive change fees.
"Due to the high volume of incoming requests, we seek our customers' understanding that it may take longer than usual for our service agents to respond," the flag carrier said.
It urged customers to contact the airline only if their flight is departing in the next 72 hours, so that its agents can focus on and assist those with urgent flight changes.
Those with flight dates beyond the next 72 hours are advised to reach out closer to their trip.
On Saturday, SIA said in a press statement that it is experiencing an "extraordinarily high volume" of enquiries at its customer service centres, reservation and sales offices and social media channels.
