Singapore Airlines Limited (SIA) has bought a 10 per cent stake in Virgin Australia Holdings Limited for S$132.88 million. Virgin Australia will use the proceeds of the sale to buy 60 per cent of the budget carrier Tiger Australia for S$44.49 million from Singapore’s Tiger Airways Holdings Limited and acquire regional carrier SkyWest Airlines Limited in a cash-and-stock offer worth S$120.78 million. Currently, Singapore Airlines has a 49 per cent stake in Virgin Atlantic Airways. Meanwhile, SIA has placed an order to buy five Airbus A-380s and 20 A-350s to enhance its capacity and renew its fleet. The delivery of the aircraft will begin in 2017. In addition, SIA has awarded a contract worth S$3.18 billion to Rolls-Royce to supply Trent engines for 20 Airbus A350-900 and five Airbus A380 aircraft that SIA had purchased recently. SIA reported a 54 per cent decline in net profit for July–September 2012, compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. Its net profit in the second quarter was S$90 million, down from the previous year’s S$194 million.
