ASIAN SARS ILLNESS HITS DRAGONAIR’s SERVICES

ASIAN SARS ILLNESS HITS DRAGONAIRÆS SERVICES    Hong Kong-based Dragonair will temporarily reduce or suspend services as a result of the outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) illness in Asia.
   The airline is cutting 25 percent of its passenger capacity, effective immediately. The cuts would impact belly space for freight.
   Services to Xian and Chongqing in mainland China will be canceled for April, except for one flight each on April 18 and April 23, respectively. Services to Sendai will also be canceled, with the exception of flights on April 16, 20 and 30. Flights to Dalian, Hiroshima, Haikou, Sanya and Wuhan in April will not be operated.
   Services to Beijing and Shanghai will be maintained at the winter schedule level of 42 flights a week and 56 flights a week, respectively. Taipei will have 21 flights a week. Services to Changsha, Hangzhou, Kaohsiung, Kunming, Nanjing, Ningbo, Qingdao and Xiamen will all be reduced.
   There is no change in frequencies to the airline’s services to Dhaka, Fuzhou, Kota Kinabalu, Phnom Penh and Phuket.
   Dragonair said mainland and secondary regional destinations have seen a significant decline in demand as a result of concern over the severe acute respiratory syndrome.