Airlines cut flights, change course of business

New Delhi/Mumbai: There is more bad news from the aviation industry. Hit by high fuel prices, major airlines have reduced flights on the domestic circuit as demand is ebbing and flights are going half empty.
It is learnt that state-owned carrier Air India has cancelled around 30 flights whereas Jet Airways grounded more than 20 flights due to poor bookings. Delhi-based budget carrier SpiceJet has cancelled around 10 flights and Simplify Deccan has done away with 50 flights.
Jet Airways has combined some flights, due to poor loads, on routes like Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata. Simplify Deccan is said to have carried out a similar exercise on short haul routes. When contacted, a Jet spokesperson said that few flights have grounded but this was a temporary measure.
Kingfisher is said to have postponed plans for international operations and the target now is September 2008 instead of August 2008. Tom Wright, general manager (India, Middle East, Africa & Pakistan) at Cathay Pacific, told ET that crude prices are expected to reach $200 per barrel by the end of the calendar year. For the last few months, Indian carriers' attempts to find funds for their loss-making ventures (that can be as high as Rs 9 crore daily for giants like Air India-IA or Jet-JetLite) could get more desperate now as crude inches towards the $150 mark.
07/07/08 Economic Times

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Jul 2008