Singapore Airlines to ‘carefully consider’ capital infusion requests from loss-making Air India

“As a significant minority shareholder, Singapore Airlines works with Tata Sons to support Air India’s transformation programme. SIA’s Board will carefully consider any requests for additional capital from Air India, taking into consideration the Group’s other capital requirements and Air India’s business strategy,” an SIA spokesperson said.

“The SIA Group’s capital allocation follows a disciplined evaluation process that considers its operating cash flow, investment requirements in new aircraft and products, as well as multi-hub investments such as Air India, to support sustainable long-term growth and returns,” the spokesperson added.

In a social media post on Wednesday, Kenneth Tiong, an opposition MP in Singapore’s parliament, raised concerns over Singapore Airlines investing further in Air India, and the consequent impact it could have on Temasek, the Singapore government-owned global investment company that in turn owns Singapore Airlines.

“Singapore Airlines owns about a quarter of it (Air India), and Temasek owns most of Singapore Airlines, so this is not only a question for private shareholders. Whichever of the two writes the cheque, it will have a significant impact on Temasek…No one, least of all Singaporeans, owes Air India a living. I will not support, nor expect, any future use of Temasek’s funds to prop up Air India via Singapore Airlines. If Singapore Airlines wants to continue its bet on Air India, it should do so on its own two feet, and not on Temasek’s,” Tiong said in his social media post.

The Singapore lawmaker added that he has submitted a question to Singapore’s transport minister on the issue for the parliament’s September 8 sitting. “I have filed a question for oral answer for the 8 September sitting, asking the Minister for Transport whether these losses have been assessed against SIA’s capacity to provide essential transport services, and whether they engage the notification duty that comes with SIA’s designated status under the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore Act,” Tiong said.

Tiong said that Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran, who is also the chairman of Air India, recently said that the airline’s turnaround could take up to a decade, and now Chandrasekaran himself is slated to step down from his position in February 2027. The Singapore MP also flagged that SIA slipped into losses in the April-June quarter, which was partly due to the Air India group’s heavy losses, apart from the external challenges faced by SIA itself due to the West Asia conflict.

SIA’s profit for 2025-26 fell 57% year-on-year to the equivalent of about Rs 9,000 crore, partly due to its 25.1% shareholding in Air India, which reported losses of around Rs 27,000 crore for the year that saw it struggling due to the external challenges and a devastating plane crash. In the April-June quarter, SIA posted a loss that was equivalent to Rs 570 crore.

In the Tata Sons 2025-26 annual report, Chandrasekaran had described rebuilding Air India as an airline of global repute as a “long journey”, saying that its transformation must be seen as a five- to ten-year journey. He had also said every great airline in history was built over decades, not quarters.

“Few businesses are as vulnerable to war and fuel pressures as aviation. This year, Air India faced three external headwinds. Air space closures; West Asia conflict-driven fuel price hikes and foreign exchange fluctuations; and the crash of AI171 made it the most challenging year for Air India…Given where it began, Air India’s transformation must be seen as a five- to ten-year journey, considering the years-long supply chain disruptions in key components, the need to overhaul legacy systems, culture and fleet, and the creation of a large cadre of technical and airline professionals,” Chandrasekaran had said in the Tata Sons annual report.