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Travel bug bites hard, and early

By Leow Si Wan , The Straits Times | Sat, Oct 31 2009

Tickets for year-end holidays running out.

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[top photo: Crowds thronging the Chan Brothers 44th Anniversary travel fair at Suntec City's level three concourse on Sunday. Due to pent-up demand coupled with decreased airline capacity, the clamour for air tickets and tour packages has started earlier than usual as the economy picks up.]

THE tail end of the year is, on its own, already a peak period for travel.

This year, pent-up demand, coupled with decreased airline capacity, has led to an earlier than usual clamour for airline tickets and tour packages as the economy picks up.

But with the global recession earlier this year forcing many airlines to cut capacity, tickets are getting harder to come by. Checks with tour agencies, online travel agents and airlines indicated that tickets and tour packages for the year end, especially the week between Christmas and the new year, are selling fast.

An attempt by The Straits Times to secure seats to Christchurch in New Zealand during the Christmas weekend via Qantas' online flight booking system showed that the cheapest seats for half the flights were already gone, as were nearly all the cheaper ones to Sydney.

Much the same result was obtained on checks with other airlines and online travel sites.

At tour agencies, the situation is similar. CTC Holidays said more than 80 per cent of seats for most countries in December have been taken, and Dynasty Travel reported only 'pockets' of seats left. A Chan Brothers spokesman said it had sourced for and obtained seats on alternative carriers to mop up the demand for travel to Japan, with some airlines having launched extra flights to Taiwan and Korea.

In response to demand, some airlines are adding flights and introducing new destinations. SilkAir, for example, has added flights to several countries, including Thailand and China.

But the general manager of travel management company Global Travel, Mr Charles Tan, believes that these efforts will still be insufficient to meet demand.

What is left then? Industry players say those who book their own tickets and who can afford to pay a premium or are willing to fly on less-popular airlines may still get tickets.

The same goes for those prepared to get away in early to mid-November, said Mr Tan. But, he added: 'Even if they get tickets to a destination, they may have difficulties coming back here. The cheapest category of economy class seats for December are gone, so they may have to pay at least 20 per cent more.'

National Association of Travel Agents Singapore chief executive officer Robert Khoo said airlines still operating on reduced capacity would adopt a wait-and-see attitude and assess how well the economy is recovering before making a move.

'If this demand continues and supply doesn't increase, prices will rise,' he said.

Engineer Alwyn Zheng, 27, said he and six friends have been unable to land confirmed seats for a package tour to South Korea in December. 'We are now trying to book online, but we want a package because we cannot speak Korean,' he said.

Housewife Liaw Lay Poh, 44, was luckier.

She booked her family on a late-November trip to China one-and-a-half months ago.

'There were uncertainties in June, so we delayed travel. Now that the economy is recovering and H1N1 isn't as bad as we feared, we can't wait to go overseas,' she said.

siwan@sph.com.sg

For more The Straits Times stories, click here.

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