Coronavirus wipes $70 billion off airline sector

The rapid spread of coronavirus has wiped almost a third - or $70 billion (53.6 billion pounds) - off the world's top 20 listed airlines and reshuffled global rankings, elevating Air China into third place behind U.S. rivals, an analysis by Reuters shows.

The airline sector has been hit hardest by the outbreak of coronavirus, with falling ticket demand and Italy in lockdown forcing carriers to cancel routes and slash costs to survive the mounting crisis.

With the investor sell-off accelerating, United Airlines has lost its number three position in the global line-up to Air China.

The U.S. carrier's market capitalisation has halved to $11.6 billion, the lowest since 2003, since the start of the year, leaving it also lagging behind Europe's low-cost carrier Ryanair. Air China has been relatively unscathed - its market cap was $15 billion on Tuesday, compared with $19 billion on Jan. 2.

The scale of the rout has been breathtaking. Wizz Air, a budget carrier focused on central European routes, is now more highly valued than Air France-KLM, and the world's most valuable airline, Delta Air, has seen more than $10 billion knocked off its value this year, taking its market cap to about $28 billion, the lowest since September 2016.
12/03/20 Reuters/Business Today

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AAPA challenges ‘rationale’ behind mounting global travel restrictions

Yesterday (11 March), the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a pandemic, with more than 125,000 confirmed cases in 114 countries and in excess of 4,600 deaths (correct at the time of writing).

The AAPA has urged authorities to roll back or refrain from introducing such measures, reiterating the WHO’s stance that advises against ‘generally infective’ travel or trade restrictions.

These can cause significant disruption to the global economy, supply chains, commerce, trade and most importantly to peoples’ livelihoods, says the AAPA.
Where travel restrictions are introduced, they must be based on careful risk assessments, ensure proportionately to the risk of public health, are short term in nature, and subject to regular revision, adds the association.

Andrew Herdman, Director General, AAPA said: “The proliferation of travel restrictions worldwide, and insufficient adherence to the International Health Regulations are imposing enormous costs on society with little or no public health benefits.

“AAPA appreciates the leadership of WHO on this issue and calls on governments to fundamentally reconsider the rationale for such travel restrictions and measures.

“Governments must strengthen cooperation across borders and work together with WHO, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and other stakeholders to develop a more globally co-ordinated set of policy measures, in addressing the current outbreak, avoiding unnecessary social and economic disruption. Additional resources could then be directed towards strengthening the public health response.”
12/03/20 Luke Barras/TR Business

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IndiGo, Spicejet tank up to 19% on travel curbs

Shares of aviation majors including InterGlobe Aviation and Spicejet tanked up to 19 per cent after the government on Wednesday imposed stringent travel curbs to the country as the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic.
The government late on Wednesday suspended “all existing visas, except diplomatic, official, UN/international organisations, employment, project visas” until April 15.
There are more than 1,18,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 4,291 deaths in 114 countries. India’s count of infected people is 62 with no confirmed deaths so far from the disease.
The visa-free travel facility for Overseas Indian Card (OIC) holders has been suspended until the same date. The curbs go into effect at 1200 GMT on March 13 at the port of departure.
12/03/20 EconomicMarkets.com/Economic Times

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‘Travel without worry’: SpiceJet’s latest advisory in times of coronavirus draws flak

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing coronavirus scare and at a time when the infection has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO), a leaflet sent by SpiceJet airlines to its passengers claiming that it’s safe to travel during the outbreak has drawn flak online.

“Really, @flyspicejet? Most countries, including India, disagree with you,” tweeted New York Times journalist Vindu Goel while sharing the image of the informative, which has now gone viral on several social media platforms.
Captioned “Travel without worry”, the leaflet quotes Harvard Medical School and World Health Organisation (WHO) to back their claim stating that the virus was “less infectious than FLU”.

“At SpiceJet, we’re taking all possible steps to ensure the safety of our passengers. At the same time, we’d like to assure everyone that it is absolutely safe to continue international travel, tourism, and trade; and advise everyone to take necessary precautions to avoid the risk of infection,” read the content of the leaflet while suggesting that it was “safe to travel during the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak.”

Responding to an e-mail query sent by the Indianexpress.com regarding the leaflet, a spokesperson of the airlines said, “Please note, the image you have attached in your mail is a part of the emailer which was shared by SpiceJet to its passengers informing them about coronavirus and travel. The airline had never issued any social media post on the same.”
12/03/20 Avantika Chopra/Indian Express

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SpiceJet far better placed to weather COVID-19 turbulence: CMD

New Delhi: SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh on Thursday said that the passenger carrier is far better placed to weather the turbulence caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

According to Singh, the sector is under a lot of pressure which is temporary.

"We have been here before. SpiceJet is far better placed than many others to weather this turbulence," Singh was quoted as saying in a statement.

"I firmly believe that this is an opportunity for SpiceJet, for the government and the aviation ecosystem to create more efficient and viable structures for the growth that lies ahead."

He emphasised that the Indian aviation market and especially the domestic one has immense potential and will remain among the fastest growing in the world.

"The government is doing an excellent job in managing the crisis and India has managed to contain COVID-19 cases to a large extent."
12/03/20 IANS/daijiworld

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COVID-19: Saudi Arabia bans travel to and from India, Kuwait airport shut

Saudi Arabia has placed a temporary ban on travel to and from a number of countries, including India, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The government of Saudi Arabia on Thursday announced that the temporary travel ban will be extended to its citizens and expatriates.

According to Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the official news agency of Saudi Arabia, its government has suspended flights to and from India, the member-countries of European Union, Switzerland, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Sudan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Eritrea, Kenya, Djibouti and Somalia.

According to SPA, citizens, expatriates and foreigners who were in these above list of countries 14 days prior to their departure to Saudi Arabia will also not be allowed to enter.

However, Indian and Philippines nationals who are working as health practitioners in Saudi Arabia have been exempted from this temporary ban, although they must take all necessary precautions. Evacuation, shipping and trade trips, too, have been exempted from the decision.

Citing an official from the Interior Ministry, the state news agency reported that the citizens and those with valid residency have 72 hours to return to Saudi Arabia, “before the travel suspension decision becomes effective”.

This comes after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the coronavirus disease or COVID-19 as a pandemic — the global spread of a new disease. Saudi Arabia has reported 45 confirmed cases of coronavirus so far, with 21 new cases being reported early Wednesday.
12/03/20 News Minute

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Coronavirus: Air India suspends services to Italy, airlines asked to consider free flight cancellation

Mumbai: National carrier Air India on Wednesday night announced the temporary suspension of its flight services to Rome, Milan and Seoul.

While services to Rome (Italy) are being discontinued from March 15 to March 25, flight operations to Milan (Italy) and Seoul in South Korea will remain suspended between March 14 and March 28, an airline official said.

The decision came following the government suspending all visas, except a few categories such as diplomatic and employment, till April 15 to prevent the spread of coronavirus on Wednesday.

"All existing visas, except diplomatic, official, UN/International organisations, employment and project visas, stand suspended till 15th April 2020.

This will come into effect from 1200GMT on 13th March 2020 at the port of departure," an official statement said.

Visa-free travel facility granted to Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card holders is also kept in abeyance till April 15, it said.

All incoming travellers, including Indian nationals, arriving from or having visited China, Italy, Iran, Republic of Korea, France, Spain and Germany after February 15 will be quarantined for a minimum period of 14 days, the statement said.
12/03/20 PTI/New Indian Express

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Air India announces temporary suspension of flight services to Rome, Milan, Seoul amid coronavirus outbreak

Mumbai: National carrier Air India on Wednesday night announced the temporary suspension of its flight services to Rome, Milan and Seoul.

While services to Rome (Italy) are being discontinued from 15 March to 25 March, flight operations to Milan (Italy) and Seoul in South Korea will remain suspended between 14 March and 28 March, an airline official said.

The decision came following the government suspending all visas, except a few categories such as diplomatic and employment, till 15 April to prevent the spread of coronavirus on Wednesday.

"All existing visas, except diplomatic, official, UN/International organisations, employment and project visas, stand suspended till 15th April 2020. This will come into effect from 1200GMT on 13th March 2020 at the port of departure," an official statement said.

Visa-free travel facility granted to Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) cardholders is also kept in abeyance till 15 April, it said.

All incoming travellers, including Indian nationals, arriving from or having visited China, Italy, Iran, Republic of Korea, France, Spain and Germany after 15 February will be quarantined for a minimum period of 14 days, the statement said.
12/03/20 PTI/First Post

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Cancel flight ticket, or reschedule? The best way to readjust your travel plans in times of coronavirus

After suspending all visas till April 15 following WHO's classification of the coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic, India's Civil Aviation Ministry asked airlines to waive off rescheduling charges, and all airlines have agreed.
Now all domestic airlines, including government-owned Air India, have announced a waiver on re-booking charges in case a flyer does not want to travel on the designated date.
Wadia group-owned private carrier GoAir, which was earlier offering free cancellation, has said it will now allow people to only reschedule their flights for no charge.
Yesterday, GoAir had announced that all bookings made between March 8 and April 30 and for the travel period between March 8 and September 30, can be cancelled if the passengers do not want to travel.
However, as per the latest announcements, GoAir is offering free rescheduling for bookings made between March 12 to 14, for travel between April 15 to June 30, 2020. The new and existing flight bookings in March can be rescheduled 3 days prior to the travel date. For new bookings beyond March, flights can be rescheduled 14 days prior to the date of travel. GoAir also said that fare differential will be applicable on rescheduled tickets.
12/03/20 Economic Times

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COVID-19 cloud: IndiGo says earnings to be ‘materially impacted’, others cancel flights

During a period that is usually deemed to be the leanest in a year for Indian airlines, the added impact of the COVID-19 outbreak has carriers bracing for impact from plummeting demand, mounting flight cancellations and a consequential grounding of a part of their fleets. IndiGo, India’s largest airline which handles nearly half of the country’s domestic passengers, said on Wednesday it expects its quarterly earnings to be “materially impacted” because of the coronavirus outbreak.

“In January and February 2020, IndiGo experienced modest impact from the coronavirus. We cancelled our flights to China and Hong Kong and reduced frequency to certain other Southeast Asia markets. This capacity was redeployed in other markets without having a material impact on our revenues,” IndiGo said in a notice to the exchanges. “Over the past few days, however, week-on-week, we have seen a 15-20 per cent decline in our daily bookings. Please note that the numbers could change from here based on how the situation evolves,” it said.

The International Air Transport Association has estimated global revenue losses for airlines of up to a maximum $113 billion, excluding impact on cargo operations.
IndiGo, which ferried 6.79 crore passengers last year, said: “We expect our quarterly earnings to be materially impacted because of the above. In addition, the rupee has also depreciated sharply which will have an adverse impact on our dollar denominated liabilities primarily on account of capitalised operating leases”.
However, IndiGo is not the only airline to run into headwinds developing from the coronavirus outbreak. Almost all major Indian airlines including Air India, Air India Express, SpiceJet and Vistara have cancelled flights to several Southeast and West Asian destinations on account of weak demand. “Future passenger loads are expected to be down. Typically, between March 10 and April 15, worst loads of the year are witnessed because of exam period, which also curtails business travel. While it will be unfair to blame everything on coronavirus, some impact is being seen. People have not really started booking for summers,” said Ameya Joshi, a former aviation industry professional dealing with network planning and founder of NetworkThoughts.
Further, with cases in Europe rising daily, Air India — currently India’s only long-haul operator — could be faced with excessive capacity of wide-bodied aircraft. The national carrier, which operates Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner and Boeing 777 aircraft for its medium- and long-haul international flights, has already curtailed its operations to Rome, Milan and Singapore, in addition to operating smaller aircraft to some destinations like Jeddah. “Due to the prevailing situation of coronavirus in different locations across the globe, there are many destinations, which are expected to face a drop in foreign tourist arrivals because of the advisories issued by various governments. Customers are wary of making fresh bookings to the affected locations and airfares to these destinations have dropped by over 40 per cent. We have received nearly 35 per cent cancellation queries from travellers planning their trips to foreign locations in holiday season,” said Sabina Chopra, co-founder of Yatra.com.
Vistara took delivery of its first Dreamliner aircraft earlier this month, and the airline’s officials said they were “perplexed” about deployment of the plane on one of its planned destinations — London, Paris, Moscow and Tokyo — given the current situation. To begin with, Vistara will operate the aircraft on domestic routes.
12/03/20 Pranav Mukul/Indian Express

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Coronavirus: Slammed Air India Express changes fee waiver

Dubai: Slammed by UAE-based passengers for offering a fee waiver due to Covid-19 related travel issues only for fresh bookings, Indian carrier Air India Express on Thursday revised its waiver policy.

As exclusively reported by Gulf News on Wednesday, the budget airline of India’s national carrier Air India had announced that it would only allow date changes free of charge for those who book tickets from Thursday, March 12.
This made passengers, who had booked their tickets before the novel coronavirus hit the aviation industry and subsequent travel advisories, ineligible for a penalty waiver for changing the date of travel.

Following the report, Air India Express on Thursday issued a fresh circular to all travel agents informing that the waiver policy will be applicable to all existing bookings as well.

While official sources said the airline was forced to revise the policy after the GN report, the carrier attributed its decision to the revised travel advisory by India.

“In view of the revised travel advisory issued by the Government of India dated March 11 for prevention and management of Covid-19, Air India Express will provide one free date change,” the circular said.

It clarified that the free date change will be applicable to all existing books for travel till April 30 and all new bookings effected till March 31, for travel till April 30.
12/03/20 Sajila Saseendran/Gulf News

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Air India refuses to waive ticket cancellation charges to Dubai

With Coronavirus causing havoc and fear among travellers across the world, forcing them to cancel their travel plans, for the time being, the national Carrier Air India's subsidiary Air India Express has asked a passenger in Mumbai to pay a hefty amount as cancellation charges to cancel their air tickets
to Dubai.
Both Dubai and India have asked people to avoid non-essential travel. In fact, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has said that incoming travellers, including Indian nationals, can be quarantined for a minimum of 14 days upon their arrival in India. The travel advisory sent out by the Group of Ministers
overseeing the COVID-19 crisis has also advised Indians from undertaking non-essential travel abroad.
Priyanka Dutt, an entrepreneur and a resident of Andheri (W) was scheduled to travel to Dubai along with her husband and two children, including an infant. However, when she contacted the Air India Express customer care to get her tickets cancelled, she was told that a cancellation and convenience fee of over Rs 20,000 would be charged. Speaking to Mirror Online, Dutt said, "We are a family of four and have booked tickets for a 12-day vacation (From March 15 to 26) to Dubai. But given
the circumstances- due to coronavirus, there was a lot of confusion and we finally decided to cancel the plan. Therefore, I contacted Air India asking them to cancel the ticket. However, they said that there will be cancellation fees of Rs 18,900 and Rs 2,800 as a convenience charge."
12/03/20 Pratik Mukane/Mumbai Mirror

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Coronavirus travel restrictions have grounded Indian airlines’ big hopes from Doha

Indian airlines that were betting on Qatar as a popular travel destination, and a hub to connect to Europe and the entire Gulf region, are in for a disappointment.

On March 9, the west Asian country temporarily suspended entry of travellers from 14 nations, including India, as a precautionary measure against Covid-19. The move will affect a large number of Indians with residence or work permits in Qatar, besides temporary visitors and tourists expecting visas upon arrival.

Authorities have also barred those in transit from leaving the airport to enter Doha, Qatar’s capital city. “Passengers with onward connections will not be permitted to leave Hamad International Airport (HIA),” said Qatar Airways on March 9. However, flyers can stay at the airport and wait for their respective layover flight.

This is expected to put Indian airlines, already battling a slowdown, under pressure.

“Doha, in recent years has emerged as one of the most popular overseas destinations for Indians and is also an important stopover point for people travelling to Europe and the US from India,” said a Mumbai-based aviation analyst at a credit rating agency who did not wish to be named.

Indian carriers have consistently increased the frequency of their flights to Doha, anticipating more travel ahead of the FIFA 2022 World Cup.

Currently, Qatar Airways, IndiGo, Air India, and Air India Express connect Indian cities to Doha.

IndiGo, India’s largest airline, operates the most number of these flights, connecting Mumbai, Kochi, Kozhikode, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Chennai, to the Qatari capital. Last November, Qatar Airways and IndiGo signed a codeshare agreement to strengthen the latter’s presence in west Asia. Under the deal, Qatar Airways will be able to book seats for its transiting passengers on IndiGo flights from Doha to Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad.
These plans have now been jeopardised.

“Owing to the travel ban…IndiGo will be cancelling its flights to Doha till March 17, 2020. We will be monitoring the situation closely and will share updates once the ban is lifted,” IndiGo said on March 9.

National carrier, Air India, too, has announced the cancellation of its flights to Qatar. The airline had in the past reduced the frequency to its flights to Doha. However, its no-frills arm, Air India Express, was to launch a new flight from Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu to Doha on March 31.

Similarly, in February, low-cost carrier GoAir announced daily flights between Doha and Mumbai from March 19, 2020. It is unclear yet if this will be postponed.

“With restrictions already existing to China, Thailand, and Malaysia, Indian carriers were relying on movement from Gulf countries, which has also been disturbed now,” said the Mumbai analyst.
12/03/20 Niharika Sharma/Quartz

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Nearly 600 flights in and out of India cancelled due to coronavirus

India civil aviation sector has witnessed a massive impact of coronavirus as nearly 600 flights of domestic and foreign airlines have been cancelled till March 6.

Of the 585 flights cancelled till March 6, 492 were of foreign carriers and 93 were of Indian airlines. Air India has not been included in the list, which was shared by the government in a written answer to Lok Sabha.

Other than these two categories of cancellations for a specific period of days, Iran's Mahan Air and Iran Air have cancelled their remaining winter schedule for India with effect from February 26. This basically means that it will not operate any flights till last Saturday of March but the duration of suspension is expected to be longer than that.

IndiGo has cancelled 42 flights a week because of the disruption as a result of coronavirus spread and SpiceJet has witnessed cancellations to the tune of 23 flights per week. GoAir cancelled 19 flights a week while Vistara has cancelled nine flights every week due to the situation.
12/03/20 Anu Sharma/CNBC TV18

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Coronavirus outbreak: It's safe to travel, SpiceJet, GoAir tell customers

Mumbai: SpiceJet is urging customers to travel without worry in an outreach effort to prevent slide in bookings. The airline has listed its own coronavirus prevention measures and World Health Organisation (WHO) messages in an email to reassure customers. GoAir too has written to customers about its safety measures which include enhanced aircraft cleaning, disinfecting touch screens among others.

" At SpiceJet we are taking all possible steps to ensure the safety of our passengers. At the same time we would like to assure every one that it is absolutely safe to continue international travel, tourism and trade and advise every one to take necessary precautions to avoid the risk of infection," the airline said in its customer email.
Flight occupancy and fresh bookings have dropped over ten per cent in last few days as individuals and corporates defer trips. International travel is already hit due to a series of visa restrictions imposed by countries. The restrictions have forced airlines to cancel flights and ground aircraft.

"Despite the low risk of exposure, we want you to feel confident when traveling with GoAir. As a result, we have enhanced some of our cleaning procedures in the interest of our customers' and employees' health and safety," GoAir said in a communication to passengers. "We have equipped all employees with disinfectants, sanitizers, gloves and other protective equipment, particularly for those who engage directly with customers. Education on WHO guidelines and training to our employees is ongoing, " the airline added.
12/03/20 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

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In times of coronavirus pandemic, airlines stare at uncertainty this quarter

New Delhi: Skies are cloudy for carriers in the current quarter as they navigate the coronavirus outbreak but the next three months might turn out to be better, according to two airline industry executives.

Lower oil prices and possibility of a spurt in domestic passenger traffic due to international travel restrictions would benefit the domestic airline industry, they added.

In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, domestic carriers have reduced the number of international flights. On Wednesday, the government also decided to suspend tourist visas from March 13 till April 15.

SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh on Thursday said the aviation sector is under a lot of pressure but this is temporary.
"We have been here before. SpiceJet is far better placed than many others to weather this turbulence. I firmly believe that this is an opportunity for SpiceJet, for the government and the aviation ecosystem to create more efficient and viable structures for the growth that lies ahead.
"SpiceJet will emerge even stronger from this," he said in a statement.
12/03/20 PTI/Outlook

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Coronavirus cripples tourism sector; airlines, hotels worst hit

New Delhi: It's literally mayhem for the tourism, hotels and aviation sectors after the international body World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) a global pandemic on Wednesday. On the same day, the high-level group of ministers (GoM) in India issued a revised travel advisory that suspended all existing visas till April 15, 2020. The two big developments have resulted in mass-scale cancellations of travel bookings, including air travel and hotel accommodations.
As per some estimates, almost 40-50 per cent of the domestic hotel bookings have been cancelled in the past two days, and hotel fares have tanked nearly 18 per cent in the past one week. The fall in room rates is higher in leisure destinations such as Udaipur, Goa and Kerala where a lot of luxury properties have been hit due to the low numbers of foreign tourist arrivals amidst coronavirus outbreak.
The situation is even worse in the aviation sector where fares have crashed as much as 40 per cent in the past week on a lot of routes. For instance, a Delhi-to-Chennai flight ticket which would usually sell at above Rs 5,000 in the 0-15 day booking window can now be bought at Rs 2,797. As per OTA (online travel aggregator) Yatra, around 12 per cent domestic airline capacity has gone down recently due to temporary suspension of services to certain cities in China, Italy and South Korea in view of coronavirus outbreak.
12/03/20  Manu Kaushik/Business Today

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Coronavirus scare: Passengers sent home for 28 days of seclusion from Kochi airport

Kochi: Medical teams have started segregating passengers who arrive at the international terminal of the Cochin International Airport from countries hit by coronavirus and are compulsorily sending them to 28 days of home quarantine, district administration officials said on Wednesday. The asymptomatic passengers were taken from the airport to their homes in an ambulance after they were asked to sign an affidavit stating that they will strictly follow the instructions of medical teams and will remain at home for the stipulated number of days.

Simultaneously, panchayat and police personnel in their respective areas have also been informed about the passengers sent for home quarantine.


“As many as 14 passengers came forward informing that they will go home only after they tested negative for coronavirus. Until then they will remain under observation in hospital,” said a health official.

“We can’t lodge all the passengers at a single location. It is best to send them home from airport by ambulance. It will help them avoid contact with others. It is safe to lodge asymptomatic people at home quarantine itself. Lodging them at a different location in quarantine will lead to more problems and they will get more tensed,” said a health official.

Of the 52-people who arrived from Rome on Wednesday, three passengers refused to cooperate with health officials. “They claimed they were not suffering from any illness and asked why there is so much mayhem here. But we convinced them about the need to take precautions,” said the official. As many as 35 passengers were sent to Aluva District Hospital for keeping them under observation. A majority of them were later sent to their homes.

Meanwhile, isolation wards were opened at more government hospitals on the district. As many as 10 rooms were opened at Aluva District Hospital and 40 at Muvattupuzha Taluk Hospital. Directions have been issued to government taluk hospitals in Perumbavoor and Fort Kochi to remove patients from pay wards so that passengers coming from Covid-hit countries, can be placed under observation.
12/03/20 Times of India

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Coronavirus scare: International traffic at Bangalore airport down by 50pc

New Delhi, Mar 12 (PTI) Bangalore Airport has seen a 50 per cent dip in international traffic in March amid travel restrictions by a host of countries and subsequent flight cancellations due to coronavirus concerns.
Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), in a statement on Thursday also said domestic passengers volume has also been squeezed by 2-4 per cent and it may dip further if the number of coronavirus cases go up further.

The number of coronavirus patients in India rose to 74 with the reporting of 14 fresh cases from various states as well as one foreign national, according to the Union Health Ministry.

"Traffic at Bangalore Airport has been affected by the Coronavirus, like most other airports globally. International traffic has dropped by 20 per cent from normal levels (before COVID19 was detected) in February and almost by 50 per cent from normal levels in March," BIAL said in a statement.

Against an average daily international passenger volume of around 14,000-15,000, only around 6,000-7,000 international passengers are arriving at Bangalore airport per day, the statement added.

Earlier in the day, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the number of international passengers arriving at the country''s airports has come down to around 62,000 per day from 70,000 in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

The count is expected to decline further to 40,000 following the fresh travel restrictions announced by the government on Wednesday.
12/03/20 Outlook

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Coronavirus: Passengers from 15 nations not allowed to enter Delhi airport duty-free shopping area

New Delhi: Indian Customs has barred passengers arriving from 15 nations, including China, the US, Italy and South Korea, from entering duty-free shopping area at the Delhi airport in wake of the coronavirus pandemic. With the government already cancelling visas with effect from March 13, this would mean that even Indian nationals returning home from these 15 countries will not be allowed to enter the Delhi duty-free shopping area.
The Commissioner of Customs at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi, in a notice, said the ban has been put in place "in view of the threat from covid-19 virus".

Passengers arriving on flights from China, the US, Italy and South Korea, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Spain, France, Vietnam, Nepal and Thailand will not be able to enter the duty free shopping area due to operational limitations till further orders, it said.


The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday declared coronavirus (COVID-19) a pandemic.

Globally there have been over 4,200 deaths in 114 countries due to covid-19. The number of infected people in India is 73, as per health ministry data.
12/03/20 PTI/Times of India

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