Northwest Airlines has pulled out of Singapore and Bangkok. Effective January 1, the carrier stopped operating its six-days a week B747-200F service from Tokyo toSingapore and on to Bangkok before returning to Narita airport in Tokyo.

"There is a lot of capacity in that market. With oil at US$95 a barrel and the peak season over, we need to make that change," said Tom Bach, president of NWA Cargo. He added that this is not a complete retreat from the two destinations, as Northwest will maintain passenger flights from Japan to Singapore and Bangkok.

The withdrawal from the Southeast Asian freighter scene marks the first major decision of Bach, who recently took over the the top job at NWA Cargo from Jim Friedel.

Bach now faces painfully high fuel costs and downward yield pressure as he must now improve NWA Cargo’s revenues and profitability. "We’re going into an extensive review of our network and how we sell pallet positions and space," Bach said. Later this year its contract with DHL to carry its express traffic will also expire.