Covid-19 scare: Virus empties out the skies

Mumbai: India’s airlines face widespread domestic ticket cancellations as more people call off leisure and business trips and stay indoors to protect themselves from the coronavirus pandemic. Carriers are also curtailing domestic flights and reviewing fleet expansion plans.

This will be an additional loss of business for airlines that expected the recent mass cancellations of foreign trips to be offset by a spurt in local travel. It isn’t clear whether the downturn will be reversed with the lowering of fuel prices, the biggest cost chunk for an airline.

Cancellations and rescheduling requests have increased over the past week, accelerating after the World Health Organisation declared the virus outbreak a pandemic on Wednesday. They are expected to shoot up further after India’s aviation regulator advised airlines on Thursday to waive cancellation and rescheduling fees.