January 2005  Email this  Print this
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SPENDING
Nonstop to Berlin
Airlines may be struggling mightily to make ends meet with their domestic routes, but that hasn't stopped them from offering more flights to Europe, Asia and Latin America. Instead of changing planes in Frankfurt or London, you'll be able to fly directly to smaller cities. Continental Airlines introduced direct flights from Newark, N.J., to Edinburgh and Oslo last summer, and this spring the carrier will add other cities that are popular with business travelers: Belfast, Berlin, Hamburg, Stockholm and Bristol, England. Also this spring, Delta will begin daily nonstops between Berlin and New York.
Narrow-body 757 jets, which carry fewer passengers and cost less to operate than wide-body planes, make service to secondary cities economically feasible.
Even though United Airlines is cutting 12% of its domestic flights, the carrier has launched new daily nonstop service out of Chicago to Buenos Aires and Shanghai, as well as daily flights between Chicago and Osaka, Japan; San Francisco and Beijing; and Washington, D.C., and Zurich.
Meanwhile, one international carrier is experimenting with new, low-cost fares on certain routes. Aer Lingus has slashed business fares, capped coach fares and eliminated restrictions on transatlantic flights. The one-way business-class fare from New York or Boston to Dublin, with a stop in Shannon, has been cut by 60%, to $1,104. Aer Lingus's economy-class one-way fares have been capped at $503, down from $838, excluding taxes. --Lynn Woods |
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MAGAZINE
