Second A380 grounded

Singapore Airlines has grounded an A380 due to a fuel pump problem, the second occurrence in the same number of months.

The carrier had to ground an A380 flight to Sydney earlier this week due a technical problem caused by a faulty fuel pump.

The incident this week echoes the one on February 18, where the carrier grounded another Sydney-bound A380 for a similar reason. SIA, however, maintained that the defects were different in the two cases and that the jets were different.

Spokesperson Stephen Forshaw was quoted in local media as saying the problem this month was similar to the last, but it was "important to mention that it is not the same problem and not the same aircraft".

He added that the technical difficulties faced in February was with the electrical relay powering the pump rather than the pump itself, while the problem earlier this week involved a premature failure of the pump.

In a statement to Procurement magazine in February, the company said that "this is the type of problem that doesn't show till engine start-up."

"The delay was most unfortunate, because to date, the aircraft has been operating with very high reliability: the highest of any aircraft type to enter service. It is, of course, to be expected that technical issues will occur from time to time," the spokesperson said.

The carrier also increased its fuel surcharge, to ease the negative effects of skyrocketing crude oil prices hurting bottom lines.

The airline is now charging US$30 from US$26 for regional routes per sector for flights between Singapore and ASEAN countries. For flights between Singapore and gateways in the US and Canada on a single-sector basis the surcharge went up from US$123 to US$130, while the airline will charge US$80, up from US$75 per sector on all other flights.

SIA said the surcharge adjustments will offer only partial relief of higher operating costs arising from increases in the price of jet fuel, and said it will continue to monitor the price of jet fuel and keep the application of the fuel surcharge under active review.