Skies clear as more flights grounded by growing coronavirus curbs

Widening curbs on travel to contain the spread of the coronavirus led airlines to ramp up flight cancellations on Monday, with new restrictions spanning Australia, New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan. Globally the number of scheduled flights last week was down more than 12% from the year earlier, flight data provider OAG said, with many airlines having announced further cuts to come.

Credit ratings agency Moody’s estimated global capacity would fall by 25% to 35% in 2020, assuming the spread of the coronavirus slowed by the end of June.

Airbus said it had enough liquidity to cope with any further cash requirements related to the coronavirus, adding that it had around 30 billion euros worth of available liquidity. Its U.S. rival Boeing (BA.N) is under similar pressure and has called for a $60 billion lifeline for the U.S. industry. I

In mainland China, domestic capacity has been rising as some internal curbs are eased, but there are concerns that passengers on international flights could re-import the virus. More than 570,000 flights to, from and within, China were cancelled from Jan. 1 to March 16, data provider Cirium says. China’s aviation regulator said all international flights due to arrive in the capital will be diverted from Monday to other airports in the country.

Skies clear as more flights grounded by growing coronavirus curbs, Reuters, Mar 23