SIA slashes prices to lure tourists

SIA slashes prices to lure tourists

SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines (SIA) said on Saturday that it is slashing prices to the bone during the peak travel season to lure travelers to the city-state, where tourism has been clobbered by SARS.

Starting Monday, the national carrier is cutting its economy fares by as much as 75 per cent for travel between June 16 and Aug. 30.

Under an additional early-bird discount, a visitor from Frankfurt could end up paying S$613 (US$342) and one from Sydney, Melbourne or Adelaide, Australia, S$393 with a free two-day hotel stay, SIA said.

Amid a slowing global economy, the Iraq war and the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), SIA has slashed its capacity in recent months by more than 30 percent.

It also stopped flights to such destinations as Brussels and Guangzhou.

The airline filled 50 percent fewer seats in April, a month that saw visitor arrivals nosedive 67 percent, compared to the same period in 2002. -- dpa