| Kippreport.com

Calling all vacation lovers

January 24, 2009 11:36 by Dana El Baltaji

While the world wallows in financial misery, we at Kipp have been delighted by the countless special deals airlines are advertising. The prices are so good, we’ve been calculating how many vacation days we spare over the next few months.

In fact, Etihad Airways sums it up on their website: “Online prices so low you’ve just got to go.”

It’s a terrible one-liner, but we’ll forgive Etihad its poor copywriting judgment because the prices really are so low that we really do have to go; you can go to London for AED1710 and Bangkok for AED2000. The holiday packages are even better: You can go to Thailand and stay for three nights at a hotel for AED2490, or travel to Kuala Lumpur and stay for five nights for AED1990.

Predictably, carriers are lowering their fares in a bid to attract customers who aren’t keen on spending their cash, or don’t have any to spend. The industry is well aware of the losses they face in 2009, and are hoping to attract as many travelers as they can.

In December 2008, the International Air Travel Association (IATA) announced that it predicted a profit loss of $200 million for local carriers in 2009. It’s a staggering loss that may lead to thousands of job cuts. It’s a terrible predicament for many who will be affected by the industry’s losses, but for the rest of us it spells ‘cheap vacations’.

It makes us feel like vultures. But pretty soon, we’ll be well rested and well traveled vultures.

Tags: aviation, Etihad Airways, Financial Crisis, IATA, UAE, vacations