US airlines go slow on China routes

时间：2009-07-02 02:29:37

（单词翻译:单击）

In 2007, when Washington cleared the way for six new non-stop routes between China and the US, top air carriers were clamoring to add to their list of destinations.

But less than two years later, airlines are scrambling1 to push back their launches, or reduce the frequency of their services, amid the recession.

In the past year, the US Department of Transportation has approved delay or cutback requests from all but one of the airlines that had won the rights to the new services. In April, United Airlines became the first of the pack to postpone2 the operation of its San Francisco-Guangzhou route, for the second time.

Air carriers attribute the setbacks to the worldwide economic downturn. American Airlines, which put off its Chicago-Beijing service until next year, cited "extraordinarily3 adverse4 marketing5 and operating conditions affecting the airline industry". Other carriers also stated similar reasons for cutting back flights.

International travel has been one of the hardest-hit sectors6 of the airline industry. The airline slump7 has hit Asia particularly hard. The Asia-Pacific region saw a 15 percent decline in the number of international travelers, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

"Asia is the manufacturing center of the world, and it's the collapse8 in world trade and collapse in exports and imports of goods that have driven the slowdown in Asia," said Brian Pearce, IATA's chief economist9. "And that has been reflected in travel to Asia and also from Asia as well."

In China, the number of US visitors fell by more than 15 percent during the first quarter of 2009, compared to the same period the previous year, according to official figures. Business-related travel plunged10 by more than a third.

Of the six US-China services approved in 2007, only Delta's Atlanta-Shanghai route and Continental11 Airlines' Newark-Shanghai route are in operation. In addition to United, American and US Airways12, Northwest Airlines has also postponed13 its Detroit-Shanghai service.

Continental is the only airline to introduce a route this year, although it also applied14 for the right to revise the frequency of the flights. Despite the setbacks of its peers, the carrier is confident about its new route connecting New York and Shanghai.

Questions:

1. What airline postponed its San Francisco-Guangzhou route twice?

2. What route did American Airlines put off until next year?

3. What has been one of the hardest-hit sectors of the airline industry?

Answers:

1. United Airlines.

2. Chicago-Beijing.

3.International travel.


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1 scrambling cfea7454c3a8813b07de2178a1025138     
v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞
参考例句：
  • Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》
2 postpone rP0xq     
v.延期，推迟
参考例句：
  • I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
  • She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。
3 extraordinarily Vlwxw     
adv.格外地；极端地
参考例句：
  • She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
  • The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。
4 adverse 5xBzs     
adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的
参考例句：
  • He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。
  • The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。
5 marketing Boez7e     
n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西
参考例句：
  • They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
  • He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。
6 sectors 218ffb34fa5fb6bc1691e90cd45ad627     
n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形
参考例句：
  • Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
7 slump 4E8zU     
n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌
参考例句：
  • She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
  • Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。
8 collapse aWvyE     
vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷
参考例句：
  • The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
  • The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。
9 economist AuhzVs     
n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人
参考例句：
  • He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
  • He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。
10 plunged 06a599a54b33c9d941718dccc7739582     
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降
参考例句：
  • The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
  • She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。
11 continental Zazyk     
adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的
参考例句：
  • A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
  • The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。
12 AIRWAYS 5a794ea66d6229951550b106ef7caa7a     
航空公司
参考例句：
  • The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
  • At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。
13 postponed 9dc016075e0da542aaa70e9f01bf4ab1     
vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）
参考例句：
  • The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
  • The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。
14 applied Tz2zXA     
adj.应用的；v.应用，适用
参考例句：
  • She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
  • This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

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