Singapore Airlines reviews business-class seats and outlines Air India growth and AI plans
Singapore Airlines said it will consider adjustments to its new business-class seats, detailed its strategy to return Air India to profit and reported a 14.3% revenue rise while expanding its AI initiatives.
Singapore Airlines chief executive Goh Choon Phong said the carrier will examine feedback on its newly introduced long-haul business-class seats and may make adjustments where appropriate. The comment was made at the airline’s results briefing on Nov 12, where Goh noted the group’s aim to "further enhance" the travel experience.
The airline, which posted $5.6 billion in revenue – a 14.3% year-on-year increase – also reported a net profit of $209.7 million for the quarter ended Sept 30, though first-half profit fell 43.9% to $134 million due to higher jet-fuel costs linked to the Middle East conflict. Fuel expenses rose 90.3% before hedging, and shares closed at $7.25, up 1.1%.
The business-class seat, designed by BMW Group’s Designworks, has drawn public criticism for its shape, grey colour scheme and a bright yellow stripe. The seats are scheduled for rollout from the second half of 2027 on 41 Airbus A350-900 aircraft and future Boeing 777-9s, though the latter’s delivery has been delayed. Goh said the airline chose different design agencies for each cabin class to meet specific requirements. An SIA spokesperson added that using multiple agencies has been standard practice in past cabin overhauls.
Regarding its 25.1% stake in loss-making Air India, SIA recorded a $361.7 million share of the carrier’s losses, down from $429.5 million a year earlier, mainly because of a reversal of prior provisions. Goh said Air India, now led by former Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde Gebremariam, will pursue growth by shifting Europe- and US-bound flights from Delhi to Mumbai, adding a third hub in Bengaluru, and expanding cargo operations, including converting passenger aircraft into freighters.
Goh also updated on SIA’s AI transformation, describing it as an "enterprise perspective" that integrates AI across all functions rather than isolated units. He said AI use cases grew 67% year-on-year, improving crew scheduling, cabin-crew training and customer-insight tools. The airline is partnering with firms such as OpenAI and Meta’s Muse to explore generative-AI applications, emphasizing collaboration over simple product purchases.
"What we’ve done is to choose the most appropriate agency for the needs of that specific business class," Goh said. "We haven’t seen any good example of an airline adopting an end-to-end transversal approach to the adoption of AI," he added.