KOITO Industries, the Japanese supplier of seats to carriers including Singapore Airlines, falsified test results and made unauthorised design changes, according to Japan's Transport Ministry.

SIA said yesterday the situation is affecting delivery of its 11th Airbus A380 as well as installation of new seats in some of its existing Boeing 777-300 aircraft. 'We are aware of issues relating to seats supplied by Koito to several international airlines including Singapore Airlines. We understand that these issues centre around the validation of paperwork and certification of test data.'

SIA said it is working closely with the various parties and expects the issues to be resolved soon.

'The issues have not caused disruption to any of our services,' it said.

The Japanese ministry said Koito was ordered to improve quality controls and to repair faulty seats supplied to airlines.

'Fraudulent acts were conducted across the organisation,' Koito president Takashi Kakewaga said in Tokyo yesterday.

Apart from SIA, other airlines affected include All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Continental Airlines.

Koito said last week that the axle in a new seat design had failed a safety test, forcing ANA to postpone the introduction of new Boeing planes by six months. Continental Airlines has also delayed the introduction of new aircraft because of the late arrival of seats from Koito.

The Transport Ministry gave a verbal warning to Koito last year after Japan Airlines received seats covered in a material that wasn't certified by the authorities. Seat material is important for slowing the spread of fire in aircraft.

ANA is seeking compensation from Koito for the delays and for the costs of installing alternative seats, airline spokesman Justin Massey said last week.

Shigeru Takano, director of Japan's Civil Aviation Bureau's airworthiness division, said: 'Fraudulent acts can be traced back to the mid-1990s, as far back as we have records. It was an organisational fraud as such conduct has been found in multiple divisions.'

Koito has to submit a plan for making the repairs by Feb 26, the ministry said. The most important fixes will be made by the end of May, while the remainder will be carried out by Dec 31, it said.

With additional reporting by Bloomberg