Singapore Airlines said on Tuesday that its yields improved in the quarter ended September, but would remain negative through to the end of the year as the sector struggles in the economic downturn.

"The trends are moving in the right direction. We hope it will hold, but it's hard to tell," Chew Choon Seng, CEO of the world's biggest airline by market value, told reporters on the sidelines of an aviation conference in Hong Kong.

The airline saw no need to further reduce its capacity as its load factors -- an industry measure of how many available seats are occupied -- improved, he said.

"Our load factors have been very strong," said Chew.

The load factor of Singapore Airlines, 55 per cent owned by state investor Temasek Holdings, rose to 80 per cent in September, he said. This surpassed 68.2 per cent recorded in August and 69.7 per cent in July.

On Monday, Cathay Pacific CEO Tony Tyler said the airline last week posted its best weekly passenger load factor for 2009, but remained uncertain whether the improvement represented a structural improvement or merely reflected seasonal factors.

In the longer term, recovery would depend on macroeconomic conditions, said Chew.

"Unemployment in the US is still 10 per cent, which is very high," he said.

Singapore Airlines shares were up 0.76 per cent, while Cathay Pacific stock was up 3.8 percent midway through the trading day. – Reuters