REGIONAL AIRPORTS: Fewer passengers all round
straitstimes.asia1.com.sg
TAIWAN
THE number of travellers flying to Sars-infected countries has plunged by more than half. About 65 per cent fewer people are going to Hongkong, Vietnam, Singapore and China.
There has also been a 15 per cent drop in the number of flights.
But more are flying to Japan and Europe, which are relatively free of the killer disease. Travel agents put the rise at 30 per cent. -- Lawrence Chung
HONGKONG
THE mounting number of flight cancellations hit a peak on Thursday, the day after the World Health Organisation (WHO) advised against travel to Hongkong and Guangdong.
A total of 98 flights were stopped on Thursday, about 21 per cent of the day's scheduled flights, according to the airport authority. Yesterday, 90 flights were cancelled.
With the fallout from the Iraq war as well, the authority expects the number of flights this month to shrink by 14 per cent.
On average, about 580 flights land daily in Hongkong.
The chairman of the travel agents' association, Mr Michael Woo, estimated that the number of tourists will halve in the next two weeks. Last year, Hongkong received an average of 500,000 tourists a fortnight. -- Mary Kwang
THAILAND
AT least 20 flights were cut this week, with more to be expected.
Thai Airways said bookings into Thailand since March 1 have fallen 10 per cent.
Tourists arrivals fell 5 per cent last month and are expected to drop further this month.
Some European airlines said that there was a 25 per cent drop in the number of passengers. -- Nirmal Ghosh
MALAYSIA
MALAYSIA Airlines will suspend two of its daily flights to Singapore between Monday and May 28, and dropped one of its daily flights to Hongkong from yesterday until April 30.
Daily traffic through Kuala Lumpur International Airport has fallen at least 3 per cent since the outbreak of the disease.
As of yesterday, all passengers entering from Sars-affected areas such as China, Hongkong, Taiwan, Singapore, Canada and Vietnam must declare their health status, and flights from these places will land in a specially designated area. -- AFP
INDONESIA
PLANES from Sars-infected countries are flying in daily half-empty.
Normally, at least 900 passengers from Singapore, Hongkong, China and Vietnam would arrive in Jakarta daily, and another 1,000 would fly into Bali, said Garuda chief Indra Setiawan. -- Devi Asmarani |
