Coronavirus haunts aviation firms like IndiGo, Vistara, Air India

© Provided by Quartz

The global Covid-19 outbreak has clipped the wings of India’s aviation sector.

With the spread of the novel coronavirus to 83 countries, across six continents, Indians have become sceptical about travelling abroad. The government, too, has warned against it.

“Indians are wary of making fresh bookings to (coronavirus) affected locations and airfares to these destinations have dropped 20-30%,” Sabina Chopra, co-founder & COO of travel portal Yatra.com, told Quartz. “We have received cancellation queries from around 35% travellers who had planned foreign trips.”

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Data from travel firm ixigo also show dipping airfares.

This new maelstrom comes at a time when the industry was trying to leave behind a particularly messy 2019.

Cloudy skies

For starters, there are the travel advisories issued by governments of Covid-19-hit countries.

Domestic carrier Vistara, a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, has made “temporary” adjustments to select services from, and to, Bangkok and Singapore due to weak demand, said a spokesperson. “As of now, 20 flights between Delhi and Bangkok, 26 flights between Mumbai and Singapore and eight flights between Delhi and Singapore will be cancelled in March 2020.”

Low-budget carrier GoAir is dealing with a similar situation.

“Post an advisory issued by the Saudi government on not allowing non-Saudi residents to enter its territory, GoAir has temporarily suspended operations to Dammam. GoAir has also temporarily suspended certain flights to Bangkok and Phuket sector,” a GoAir spokesperson said.

Turbulent times ahead

Mumbai-based credit agency ICRA has maintained its negative outlook on the industry.

“The Indian government advisory issued on Feb. 26, asking citizens to refrain from non-essential travel to Singapore, Republic of Korea, Iran, and Italy can seriously affect the sector,” the agency said in a recent note. “Passengers on impacted countries (China, Hong Kong, Iran, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand), account for 20.2%-24.7% of the total international passengers flying from and to India. They may cancel their travel plans.”

This trend will likely continue into the peak period in April.

“Summer is the peak travel period in India but due to the prevailing situation, there are many destinations, which are expected to face a drop. Southeast Asia and Italy are among the most preferred destinations for Indians, and can witness a drop of about 20%-25% in terms of future bookings,” said Chopra of online travel portal Yatra.com.

On Feb. 20, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimated a 13% annual fall in passenger demand for carriers in the Asia-Pacific region.

Meanwhile, flyers are worried about other issues, too.

“Travellers are scared of being confined into aircraft space, cruises, being quarantined and more. Globally, the travel industry has come into a deficit of nearly $80 billion,” Jyoti Mayal, president of Travel Agent Association of India, told India Today.

On March 4, the government issued an advisory that all incoming international passengers must declare their travel history to health and immigrations officials at India’s airports. Earlier, countries on the watch list of the Indian government were only China, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand, Singapore and Taiwan.

Refunds

Despite assurances of cancellation fee not being charged, flyers face issues.

Shame on you @airvistara for charging cancellation fee during these times of #coronavirus particularly when there is a strict ‘no travel advisory’ being sent out by the world’s most respected health organizations. Seriously shame on you! Even during these times you care about !

— Sanchit Vir Gogia (@s_v_g) March 3, 2020

Vistara had on Feb. 26 said that customers of any cancelled flight can opt for a full refund or change their travel dates free of charge.

GoAir has provided such options for flights to and from Bangkok and Phuket.