Singapore Airlines may withdraw Kolkata flight

Kolkata: Hit by a fall in the number of passengers, Singapore Airlines will suspend 214 international flights, including three to India. One of these affected flights is likely to be a Kolkata connection. If the airline does withdraw one flight from the city, the frequency will be down from four-a-week to three.
"We will ensure that capacity is allocated to match demand across the global network," said the airline's general manager (India), C W Foo.
On India routes, the airline will cut one out of the four weekly flights on the Hyderabad-Singapore sector, one out of the five weekly ones on the New Delhi-Singapore sector and one out of five weeklies on the Mumbai-Singapore sector.
Industry sources said the drop in traffic in India was due to boycott from the travel agents, who have refused to sell Singapore Airlines tickets due to the latter's refusal to give commission.
"We sell around 90% of the airline's tickets in India. When we stopped selling Singapore Airlines tickets from December 29, the passenger load fell drastically," claimed Anil Punjabi, Travel Agents' Federation of India chairman (east).
Though airline officials refused to comment on the possible reduction of flights from the city, sources at the airport said one of the four weekly ones would be withdrawn.
01/02/09 Times of India

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Categories: Foreign Feb 2009