Dear Customers:
Today we have learnt that all major airlines are canceling several flights ex Hong Kong and other airports in Asia. This is a result of a drastic decrease of the passenger load on the commercial flights due to:
- the current war with Iraq
- SARS- the outbreak of a severe pneumonia disease that has been responsible for several deaths all over the world.
Several airlines have announced they will be canceling flights and below is a list of the first ones announced:
-
Cathay Pacific
- Numerous flights to Asia ports (Taipei, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Manila, Vietnam) from April 1st through May 31st.
-
Air Canada
- canceling 19 flights to Vancouver in April and 17 flights to Vancouver in May.
-
Japan Airlines
- daily flight JL734 from Hong Kong to Tokyo from April 1st through April 26th.
-
Singapore Airlines
- All services to Las Vegas and Chicago will be suspended from April 7th to May 31st, 2003.
- Flights to San Francisco will be reduced from 14 to 10 per week from April 9th to May 31st, 2003.
- Los Angeles flights will be reduced from 14 to 12 per week from April 7th to May 31st.
- New York will be reduced from 11 to 9 per week from April 6th to May 31st.
- Services from Singapore to Seoul will be reduced from 22 to
20 per week from April 9th to May 31st;
to Hong Kong from 41 to 33 per week,
to Nagoya from 7 to 5 per week,
to Taipei from 20 to 16 per week from April 1st to May 31st,
and much more.
We are expecting there will be more flight cancellations other than above carriers for the upcoming weeks. As a result of this development, space will become even more scarce from all Far East origins and pricing will increase dramatically. Thus we can only anticipate serious backlogs and drastic rate increases. We will keep monitoring the situation and will keep you updated.
Please, call me or your sales representative for more details.
Best Regards,
Zina Sponiarova
Air & Export Coordinator