Singapore - Singapore Airlines (SIA) Cargo is about to start a once-a-week freighter service to Hanoi, it said Wednesday. The new service is due to launch on Thursday.
"Vietnam is one of the fastest growing economies in East Asia," SIA Cargo president Goh Choon Phong said.
"This new freighter service together with the eight times weekly passenger services will boost the growing freight business links between Vietnam and its key export markets in Europe, the United States, China and South-East Asia," Goh said in a statement.
The service is to operate every Thursday with a Singapore-Hanoi- Shanghai-Singapore routine.
Vietnam's top export items are crude oil, textiles, footwear, coffee and wooden products. The country imports machine tools, petroleum, steel, fabrics and electronics.
The announcement of the new freight service to Hanoi came as SIA reported a 73-per-cent gain in second quarter net income Wednesday while warning that high fuel prices and a challenging business landscape were casting "a cloud of uncertainty" over the rest of the year.
Net income in the three months ending September 30 rose to 508 million Singapore dollars (351 million US dollars) from the second quarter, the national carrier said.
Sales climbed 10 per cent.
SIA attributed the net income rise to economic growth in Asia, particularly China, encouraging more people to travel, its report said.
The airline filled 81 per cent of passenger capacity in the quarter compared with 79 per cent a year earlier.
"Passenger demand from both the business and leisure markets remained buoyant in the second quarter," SIA said.
The introduction of the Airbus 380 on October 15 has "been well received," SIA said. The carrier is the first customer to receive and put into service the world's largest commercial jetliner after an 18- month delay.
"The business landscape remains challenging," SIA said in its outlook for the second half of the year.
While advance bookings are holding up, it cited tight credit markets and volatility in the financial markets as casting "a cloud of uncertainty."
The price of fuel remains "a significant variable for the second half of the year," it added.
