'War surcharge'

By Amit Baruah

SINGAPORE, SEPT. 21. Singapore Airlines (SIA) has announced that it would impose a ``war surcharge'' of $1.25 per passenger in respect of passenger liability cover as the company will have to bear higher insurance costs from October 1.

Warning of more difficult times ahead, the airline said: ``Non- essential expenditure will be deferred, slowed down or cancelled. Retrenchment cannot be ruled out, but other cost- cutting measures will be pursued first. Staff recruitment, other than essential areas, will be frozen until the situation improves.''

It said that following last week's terrorist attacks in the U.S., traffic on SIA had declined on services to America.

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Section  : International
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