Coronavirus Fallout: Aviation flies into turbulence

The aviation industry is suffering a massive blow in the aftermath of coronavirus outbreak as the number of outgoing and incoming air passengers from Dhaka has already taken a tumble, officials said.

The number of those flying to different destinations in Asian countries, including many Middle Eastern ones, dropped by 85 to 90 percent last month compared to the usual time, said sources in the Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB), Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB), Biman Bangladesh Airlines and Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB).

There has been a 90-95 percent decline in the number of flyers travelling to Singapore, Bangkok, Malaysia, and Vietnam, SN Manzur Murshed, immediate-past president of ATAB, told The Daily Star yesterday. "For destinations in Europe and the US, it is 55 to 60 percent," he said.

"To tell you the truth, people are not going abroad except when there is an emergency. The government's advice that no one should go outside the country without emergencies has apparently made an impact on them," he said.

Besides, flights on the Dhaka-China route were being operated only with a handful of passengers, said sources at the capital's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA).

Sources at Biman Bangladesh Airlines and CAAB said the Saudi government's sudden decision to put a temporary ban on Umrah pilgrimage also affected the aviation industry in Bangladesh. The Saudi authorities took the decision to stop the spread of coronavirus in the Kingdom.

ATAB and TOAB officials said the situation was so grave that they were not getting passengers even after reducing airfare by 40 to 50 percent.

"Everyday people are cancelling their tickets, they are cancelling their trips to different countries," said Taslim Amin, a TOAB official.

Talking on the issue, a top Biman official, wishing not to be named, said, "If the situation does not improve, the aviation sector will have to pay a heavy price. It might fall flat."

With its epicentre in China's Wuhan, coronavirus has already left at least 2,900 people dead globally. More than 85,000 infections have been confirmed in around 53 countries, according to the World Health Organisation.

Australia, Bahrain, Cambodia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, The Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, UK, US and Vietnam are among the countries which have reported coronavirus cases.

Meanwhile, the aviation sector has been receiving a blow across the world.

The global airline industry body -- International Air Transport Association (IATA) – has warned that airlines stand to lose $29.3bn in revenue this year due to the coronavirus outbreak.

IATA predicts demand for air travel would fall for the first time in more than a decade, reports BBC.

Airlines in China and other parts of the Asia Pacific region are expected to take the vast majority of the impact, according to global media reports.

Airlines across the world have cut hundreds of thousands of flights because of coronavirus travel restrictions. Carriers also are waiving change and cancellation fees for some routes because of the virus.

The rapid spread of the new coronavirus is testing airlines and other travel companies with a risk that had been nearly unthinkable over the past decade: a broad decline in travel demand, said American business news channel CNBC.

On Thursday, the Global Business Travel Association warned that the virus could cost the travel industry close to $560 billion this year in revenue.

Talking about the IATA report, Biman and ATAB officials said the aviation industry in Bangladesh was also bracing for a serious global impact. They feared the industry could be hit the hardest in its history, if the situation did not change.

On Saudi's temporary ban on Umrah, Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh President M Shahadat Hossain Taslim said around 10,000 Bangladeshis, who already got the visas, might not perform the Islamic pilgrimage to Makkah, given the current situation over coronavirus.

According to sources at the airport in Dhaka, around 72 lakh passengers flew from the HSIA in 2018, meaning that around 20,000 passengers travelled from the airport every day.

The number increased last year, but went down significantly since January this year in the face of coronavirus outbreak.

Around 6,500 passengers travelled through the airport last month, said the sources.

According to CAAB, a total of around 28 airlines are operating flights from the HSIA, but with low number of passengers, several airlines have cut off the number of flights.

Senior Secretary of the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry Mohibul Haque said, "The number of air passengers has fallen due to fear over coronavirus and this is happening to all airlines operating in Bangladesh."

He hoped that the situation would improve soon.

Meanwhile, Taufiq Rahman, founder chief executive of Journey Plus, a tour operator, said the number of foreign tourists from different countries has dropped significantly in recent months, posing an ominous sign for the tourism industry in Bangladesh. 

He said, "A tourism crisis management team is a must to tackle a sudden situation like this. The team will give guidelines to the industry stakeholders."

Mohibul said they would write to the tourism ministry to take necessary measures in this regard to spread the message that Bangladesh is safe for tourism.