Singapore Airlines (SQ, Singapore Changi) is in negotiations with Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) and Boeing (BOE, Washington National) regarding aircraft delivery deferrals, although it will not pause its fleet renewal programme, the airline said in an investor briefing.

"We are also in negotiations with aircraft manufacturers to try and adjust our delivery stream for aircraft orders placed in the past, in view of the prevailing market conditions. We need to balance that with the consideration that our fleet renewal programme is an important part of the SIA Group's strategy for long term sustainability and industry leadership," the Singaporean carrier said.

Singapore Airlines Group did not reveal any further details regarding which aircraft types and the number of units it wants to defer.

According to the ch-aviation fleets module, Singapore Airlines has outstanding firm orders for nineteen A350-900s, twenty B777-9s, and twenty-nine B787-10s. Its low-cost subsidiary, Scoot (TR, Singapore Changi), has firm orders for thirty A320-200neo, six A321-200neo, three B787-8s, and two B787-9s, while the full-service regional carrier, SilkAir (SLK, Singapore Changi), has outstanding orders for thirty-one B737-8s.

Explaining its decision to issue SGD5.3 billion Singaporean dollars (USD3.7 billion) worth of new equity and up to a further SGD9.7 billion (USD6.8 billion) in convertible bonds, the airline said that it was exploring other options of raising capital, such as sale/lease-back deals. It noted, however, that options for doing so were limited given the current market environment. Also, Singapore Airlines Group was seeking financing that would not increase its leverage or put additional strain on its cash outflows.

Singapore Airlines owns the bulk of its fleet except for seven out of its eight A330-300s and four out of its nineteen A380-800s, which are on operating dry-leases. Its subsidiaries have a roughly equal balance of owned and leased aircraft - Silk Air owns 14 aircraft and leases 18, while Scoot owns 28 and leases 23.