Delta Air Lines decreases services to Japan as fuel prices rise

Delta Air Lines, among other air travel services, has reduced the number of flights the airline is conducting out and in of Japan as a result of the disasters that have taken place there. Falling demand and increasing costs have caused numerous airlines to cut service to and from Japan after the nation was rocked by natural disaster. Airlines worldwide are also feeling the pinch of rising costs of jet fuel. Article source – Delta Air Lines reduces services to Japan as fuel prices rise by MoneyBlogNewz.

Hard to fly out and in of Japan after quake

The number of flights going out and in of Japan is being reduced across the board, as major airlines have too little demand and costs are too high to keep sending flights, according to Bloomberg. The Qantas JetStar line, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways and Korean Air Lines have all had much slower business since the March 11 earthquake causing them to reduce flights to Japan.

Delta, in accordance with Reuters, will reduce service levels 15 to 20 percent until May. Between $250 and $400 million can be lost due to the quake, tsunami and nuclear devastation for the company. Japan Airlines and American Airlines are a joint venture. American Airlines has yet to announce a Japan service reduction. More than 9 million people fly to the United States from Japan each year.

Airlines having trouble paying for fuel

The price increase in fuel has been hard on airlines. They have been trying to deal with it for months now. There has been unrest in Libya and the Middle East for the past few weeks which has caused fuel costs to go up. Before that, the price was already increasing though because of the bad winter. As a result, air fare increases are being implemented by numerous airlines. This year, the air fare has been increased by Forbes already six times. This is in spite of the fact, reports Forbes, which since last year there was a 13 percent increase in Southwest passengers.

Paying for summer vacations means more money

CNN reports that the oil, gas and jet fuel price increases don't actually involve a shortage of oil in Libya which only gives the world 2 percent of its supply. In fear of spreading unrest, many raise the costs.

Unfortunately means that a full tank of gas is going to cost more during the summer, and many people might need installment loans to finance plane tickets for summer travel. Many think that the cost of travel will increase quite a bit no matter how much the air tickets end up costing in the end.

Articles cited

Bloomberg

bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-22/delta-air-lines-cuts-japan-seats-up-to-20-amr-says-quake-damped-revenue.html

Reuters

reuters.com/article/2011/03/22/us-delta-idUSTRE72L3HG20110322

Forbes

forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/03/22/business-industrials-us-southwest-outlook_8368679.html

CNN

money.cnn.com/2011/03/22/markets/oil_prices/index.htm