Airline cuts flights

Press, 28 August 1984, Page 1

Airline cuts flights

By

LES BLOXHAM,

travel editor Pan American Airways, smarting from a first-half loss of ?235 million, will reduce its services to new Zealand next week. The airline’s twice-weekly non-stop flights between Auckland and Los Angeles will be withdrawn, leaving only three Boeing 7478 flights a week from Monday. The smaller Boeing 747SPs used for the non-stop flights were introduced to the route in March to cater for the business traveller. The aircraft are fitted with 47 first-class and 100 busi-ness-class seats. They have only 80 seats in the economy zone. However, the number of New Zealanders flying on higher priced tickets has tailed off in recent weeks

and the airline now considers that the 747SPs would be better deployed across the North Pacific. Pan Am will increase its New York-Tokyo , service to two flights a day. The airline’s 7478 jumbos, which will continue to link Auckland and Los Angeles on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, will have 25 first-class, 52 business-class and 303 economy-class seats. A fourth flight might be added later in the year if the demand for seats warrants it. The airline, which has been struggling for survival since 1980, suffered a setback this year with a firstquarter loss of $97 million followed by a secondquarter loss of $l3B million.