Singapore Airlines to cut flights further

Singapore Airlines has said that in response to softening demand due to the war in Iraq and the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) it is to implement further service reductions in the coming weeks.

Combined with those announced in March, this increases the number of cuts to 125 services per week, or 13.6 per cent of capacity in terms of available seat kilometres (ASKs).

(On 20 March 2003, SIA announced plans to cut 65 services per week, equivalent to 9.4 per cent of capacity.)

The latest cuts include the suspension of all services to Kaohsiung from 15 April 2003, and to Hiroshima from 9 April to 31 May 2003.

There will be fewer weekly frequencies to destinations in all regions, in particular Asia, where services to Hong Kong will be cut from 41 to 26 per  week. Weekly services will also be reduced to Guangzhou (from 7 to 5), Hanoi (from 6 to 4) and Taipei (from 20 to 16).

Other major cities affected include Los Angeles and New York in the United States, and Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Manchester in Europe. In addition, the Airline's launch of thrice-weekly services to Bangalore, originally planned for 1 May 2003, will be deferred until 12 June.

SIA said it will be contacting affected passengers shortly to provide details of the changes and assist them in rearranging their travel plans.