SINGAPORE, July 28 (Xinhua) -- The Singapore Airlines (SIA) Group posted a net loss of 76 million Singapore dollars (about 58.76 million U.S. dollars) for the first quarter ended June 30 of financial year 2026-2027, reversing a profit a year earlier, as a sharp rise in fuel costs triggered by the Middle East conflict outweighed record revenue, the premium group said on Tuesday.

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Group expenditure rose 27.9 percent, driven mainly by a 78.5 percent jump in net fuel costs after jet fuel prices surged following the Middle East conflict, it said in a statement. The group also booked a higher share of losses from Air India.

Meanwhile, the quarterly revenue rose 19.3 percent year on year to a record 5.71 billion Singapore dollars, driven by robust passenger and cargo demand.

SIA and its low-cost carrier Scoot carried a record 10.9 million passengers, up 6.3 percent from a year earlier, although passenger load factor slipped 0.5 percentage point to 87.1 percent as capacity growth outpaced traffic.

The group said geopolitical tensions, particularly the conflict in the Middle East, continued to create uncertainty by pushing up jet fuel prices, its largest operating expense.

It has raised air fares and cargo rates to help offset higher fuel costs, but these measures have not fully compensated for the increase, it added.