Thursday, April 14, 2011

Direct flights to Los Angeles next month

Singapore Airlines (SIA) will cut two of its seven weekly direct flights to Los Angeles next month due to weakening demand, the airline's spokesman told AFP Wednesday.We are temporarily reducing from seven to five,SIA spokesman Nicholas Ionides said, insisting the cuts were "about matching capacity to demand.Ionides said that SIA was cancelling its Singapore-Los Angeles flights on Tuesday and Wednesday from May 3, adding that the two tend to have less demand compared with those for the rest of the week.

SIA uses the four-engine Airbus A345 aircraft for its non-stop flights to Los Angeles, which are wholly business-class.When asked if rising oil prices were a factor in the flight reductions, Ionides said the specific decision to implement the cuts was taken solely in response to the supply and demand situation.However, he admitted that the airline was feeling the impact of fuel costs.Obviously fuel prices have affected all airlines and we are no exception,he said.
Crude prices on the key Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate indexes had scaled $100 a barrel in February and March respectively, and have breached two and a half year highs in recent weeks.The International Energy Agency in its monthly report released Monday warned that if oil remained above $100 a barrel, there would be real risks to the global economic recovery.