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