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Garuda to reduce service

Indonesia's state-owned airline, Garuda Indonesia, said yesterday it would cut services within Asia by up to 30 percent because of falling passenger numbers caused by a deadly flu-like virus.

The carrier said it would cut flights by more than half between Jakarta and neighboring Singapore -- one of its most popular services -- and temporarily halt other flights to the island state where the virus has killed six people.

"We're looking at potentially lower revenue this year because of decreasing passenger rates, thus, in order to avoid losses we're cutting flights services to the Asia region by 20 percent to 30 percent," a Garuda spokesman said.

"We are going to temporarily stop flights from Medan to Singapore until May 15 because there are no seats booked," he added, referring to the North Sumatran capital where Garuda flies four times a week to Singapore.

Asian airlines have been especially hard hit by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which has killed almost 90 people worldwide and infected more than 2,500 since emerging in southern China in November.

Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous nation, declared SARS a dangerous disease and said anyone who avoided being examined for possible SARS infection or interfered with investigations could face jail time.
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