Airlines plan to reduce short-haul flights

New Delhi: Increasing cost of jet fuel which has already made flying expensive, is now taking its toll on short-haul sectors with airlines starting to withdraw such flights. Impact is more in south with Hyderabad and Bangalore getting new airports far from city centres increasing travel time and cost substantially.
Sensing a negative trend, low-cost carrier (LCC) SpiceJet will withdraw as many as 12 short-haul flights originating in southern cities that connect about 20 sectors from Monday. These include sectors like Hyderabad to Chennai and Bangalore to Kochi. The frequency of thrice daily Hyderabad-Bangalore flight is being reduced to one. More airlines could follow suit soon once the new airport opens in Bangalore next month. The real problem will be faced by LCCs that do not have ATRs for short-haul routes and rely on medium-sized planes. For instance, SpiceJet has all Boeing 737s and Indigo all Airbus A-320s. On the other hand, the Deccan-Kingfisher, Jet-JetLite and Air India-Indian combines have ATRs. Running a B-737 or A-320 on small routes is unlikely to be economical on short routes in south and airlines — which are already losing money — may have no option but to withdraw services.
14/04/08 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Apr 2008