Coronavirus blow: As foreign airlines suspend operations, tourism, hotels will also be hit

While the centre’s decision to cancel all valid visas in the wake of coronavirus is likely to impact the passenger load, the same is also expected to have a trickle-down effect on the tourism and hotel industry as well. As foreign airlines are expected to reduce services in the coming month, the cascading effect of visa curbs will cause a blow of over Rs 8,500 crore to aviation, travel and hotels segments, according to the Indian Association of Tour Operators, The Indian Express reported. Foreign airlines such as Emirates, Qatar Airways, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa, etc handle over 60% of India’s international air traffic every year.

Qatar Airways has already started to reduce its services at airports such as Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi, the newspaper reported. Doha-based Qatar Airways serves 13 Indian cities. On the other hand, a spokesperson for Emirates said that the situation “continues to evolve and remains dynamic.”