Major airlines on full alert to cope with SARS virus

Major airlines on full alert to cope with SARS virus

Sudibyo M. Wiradji, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The world's major airlines have been on full alert following
the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
ailment, which has caused a worldwide travel scare.

Qantas has, for example, been in a close contact with relevant
health authorities to cope with the possible spread of the killer
respiratory virus by travelers.

"In light of the recent directives, this includes displaying
advisory signage at check-in counters, and distributing
information letters to customers checking in, which is in the
process of being implemented," said Qantas chief executive
officer Geoff Dixon.

Qantas has had a longstanding policy of not carrying customers
suffering from an infectious disease where there is a direct risk
of transmission of that disease to others.

"However, in the event of a suspected case of SARS, the
aircraft will undergo a special cleaning and disinfecting process
overseen by the local airport authorities before the aircraft is
boarded again," Dixon said.

The fear of the possible spread of the deadly illness has
prompted Singapore Airlines to involve its ground staff at check-
in counters and pre-boarding waiting areas to pay close attention
to the physical condition of the airline's passengers.

"If a passenger is unwell and displays symptoms similar to
SARS, they will be asked to consult a doctor and will not be
allowed to board unless the doctor certifies that they are not
infectious," Singapore Airlines manager of public relations Glory
Henriette said.

To prevent the further spread of the disease, SIA will soon be
providing masks for all passengers and crew on flights departing
from Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Hanoi, Taiwan and
Kaohsiung.

The airline is also planning to step up the disinfection of
its aircraft. "The process involves cleaning all hard surfaces
accessible to passengers, including armrests, tray tables, side
panels, overhead bins and toilets, with an aircraft-specific
disinfectant recommended by the World Health Organization," she
said.

Other major companies, such as Eva Air and Garuda Indonesia,
have also been on full alert to curb the spread of the deadly
virus to their cabin crew and passengers.

Garuda Indonesia said that the airline would provide masks and
medical gloves to passengers flying to Singapore, Hong Kong,
Taipei, Guangzhou and Bangkok as preventive measures for the
protection of their passengers.

"The airline will closely screen its passengers, and if they
are suspected of having symptoms of SARS, they will be examined
in cooperation with the airport authorities," said Garuda
spokesman Pudjobroto.

As a precautionary measures against SARS, Eva Air ground staff
have been instructed to check any passengers before flying Eva
Air."If a passenger found suspected of infecting SARS virus, he
or she should go to the airport health authority for further
examination," said Wiewie, a spokesperson of Eva Air.

She said that Eva Air will not allow any prospective passenger
found infected by the disease. "But this does not apply to those
who can show medical evidence displaying that they are not
infected by the disease," she added.

Eva Air also provides special masks to passengers on request.

She said that for passengers flying China, Hong Kong, Macao,
Vietnam and Singapore are required to wear a mask during the
flight.

To ensure that Eva Air is free from SARS virus, the carrier is
equipped with aircraft air-circulation system. "The carrier will
undergo a special cleaning and disinfecting process based on the
WHO standard," she said.

The war in Iraq and the outbreak of the SARS virus have
exacerbated the worst-ever slump for full-service airlines
already hurt by low-fare carriers, slowing economies and travel
worries since the September 11 hijacked plane attacks in the
United States.

Qantas has cut international flying services by up to 20
percent between April 1 and mid-July of this year, while
Singapore Airlines has cut 13.6 percent of its flights.

Qantas said that flight services subject to reductions
included those to UK, Rome, Paris and Australia-Los Angeles.

Dixon said that UK services had been reduced to 17 flights per
week from the previous 21, Rome services to two from three per
week, Paris services to two from three per week and Australia-Los
Angeles services to 25 from 28 flights per week.

The Qantas Chicago extensions due to commence on March 31 have
been deferred. It has also suspended the airline's twice-weekly
Brisbane-Hong Kong service, its four times a week Sydney-Hong
Kong services and its Perth-Singapore-Hong Kong services.

Qantas has also made adjustments to flight frequencies from
Sydney, Cairns and Melbourne to Japan resulting in a 20 percent
capacity reduction. Qantas has also decided to defer a range of
planned increases to services on existing routes.

"Qantas is monitoring events closely and will make additional
changes to its international schedules as necessary," Dixon said.
"Some of the international capacity will be redeployed to
domestic operations," he added.

Other major cities affected include Los Angeles and New York
in the United States, and Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Manchester in
Europe. In addition, the airline's launch of thrice-weekly
services to Bangalore, originally planned for May 1, will be
deferred until June 12.

Similarly, Singapore Airlines has cut down on 125 services per
week, which is equivalent to 13.6 percent of capacity in terms of
available seat kilometers (ASKs), citing a "softening demand" as
the result of the war and SARS.

Singapore Airlines said that the cut in services was quite
broad-based with reductions made to flights to and from Europe,
the U.S., North Asia, Southeast Asia and West Asia. "We will be
monitoring the situation and loads carefully and make necessary
adjustments to match the capacity with the demand," it said.

The latest cuts include the suspension of all services to
Kaohsiung from April 15 and to Hiroshima from April 9 to May 31.

Singapore Airlines said that there would be fewer weekly
frequencies to destinations in all regions, in particular Asia,
where services to Hong Kong would be cut from 41 to 26 flights
per week. "Weekly services to Guangzhou will be reduced from
seven to five flights, to Hanoi from six to four and Taipei from
20 to 16 flights," Henriette said.

Meanwhile, Garuda Indonesia has been compelled to cut its
flights to the Middle East from eight times a week to two or
three times.

Garuda's load factor to and from the Middle East has dropped
to 20 percent from 70 percent prior to the war.

Garuda president Indra Setiawan said that since the emergence
of SARS several weeks ago, Garuda's daily load factor to and from
countries affected by the disease -- Singapore, Hong Kong, China
and Vietnam -- had dropped to 60 percent from 80 percent.

Under normal conditions, the Soekarno-Hatta International
Airport in Jakarta receives at least 900 passengers a day from
those four SARS-affected countries, while the Ngurah Rai
International Airport in Bali receives about 1,000 travelers.