Governments have stepped up efforts on as of Thursday to help airlines hammered by a virus-induced travel slump, with the United States offering $58 billion in aid, Singapore promising to keep its carrier aloft, and Australia easing competition rules.
AirAsia, the region’s biggest budget carrier, was the latest airline to announce sweeping cuts to its schedule in response to the deepening crisis caused by the coronavirus outbreak. It said some of its units would halt flights altogether for a period.
“Nobody can survive this for more than a few months, when you have this unprecedented 95% decline in passenger numbers or even 100% in some cases and you still have all those fixed costs,” said Brendan Sobie, an aviation analyst in Singapore.
In a desperate bid to preserve some revenues and keep global supply chains operating, US Delta Air Lines, Air New Zealand and Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways joined a list of carriers that have turned passenger planes into cargo-only transporters.
(Source : ndtv.com)