SIA dirt cheap tickets!

[george]

SIA halves fares to top spots

Tickets to London, Paris, Rome, Frankfurt, Zurich, Amsterdam cost just $800

**** NOTE: Singapore dollars in this article!****

By Rebecca Lee

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) has slashed air fares by as much as 50 per cent in a bid to entice travellers to return to the skies as the Sars outbreak threatens to cripple the airline industry.

Return economy-class air tickets to popular European cities are going at the rock-bottom price of $800 even though it is peak season. The cities involved are: London, Manchester, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Athens, Copenhagen, Paris, Rome and Zurich.

The new offers by SIA, which has been hit by hundreds of empty seats despite cutting 199 flights a week recently, were introduced on Thursday. Passengers must travel by June 30 and book at least two tickets by May 16. Fares exclude airport taxes.

Travel agents told The Straits Times that these prices were especially cheap as they were for travel during the mid-year peak period when it is summer in Europe.

An SIA economy ticket to London during this period typically costs $1,600, twice the current offer price, while a Malaysia Airlines ticket to London now costs about $1,100.

'I cannot recall an SIA ticket to London ever being so cheap. Even when prices were slashed after Sept 11, they hovered around $950 or $1,200,' said a travel agent.

Fares to the Australian cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide have also been reduced to $550 each while tickets to Perth are $450 each. Those to Auckland and Christchurch in New Zealand are going at $800 while those to Tokyo and Seoul now cost $550.

The airline also discounted fares to South-east Asian cities last week with tickets to Manila, Colombo and the Maldives reduced to $400 and those to Bali to $300. Fares to Bangkok, Penang and Jakarta are all going at just $200 each.

Ms Alicia Seah, assistant general manager (business development) of SA (UIC) Tours, thinks such stimulation will probably entice people to take to the skies again.

'A lot of Singaporeans are waiting for such travel opportunities... I think once people start travelling and come back safe and happy, the confidence level will move up,' she said.

And indeed, the offers seem to have worked already. The Straits Times understands that more than 550 tickets have been snapped up.

Meanwhile Cathay Pacific has also cut its fares, with tickets to London matching those of SIA at $800, also for travel by the end of June.

Its offers, which started yesterday and are valid for six months instead of the usual one month, also include fares to San Francisco and Los Angeles at $800. Tickets to Seoul and Tokyo have been reduced to $500, valid for one month.

'Together with SIA, we want to rekindle interest in travel,' said Cathay spokesman Sally Tan.

'Being the airline whose hub is in Hongkong, we want to assure our passengers that Hongkong International Airport is a safe transit point for their onward journey connection. Measures to screen all inbound and outbound passengers are already in place there as they are at Changi Airport,' she added.

America's United Airlines (UA) also cut its prices by up to half on Wednesday with tickets to Tokyo going at $600 for travel by July 29. Fares to San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles have been reduced to about $900.

Yesterday, SIA's shares closed at a 17-month low of $8.30 with 2.5 million shares changing hands.