Coronavirus headwinds rattle airlines, airports; lower passenger numbers, restrictions take toll

Hundreds of cancelled flights, decline in daily ticket bookings, fall in footfalls at airport shops and spike in expenses continue to rattle the country's aviation space as airlines, with weakened financials, and airport operators grapple with coronavirus headwinds.

With mounting travel restrictions across the world, including in India, the tailwind of sharp plunge in crude oil prices seems to fade in the background of excess seat and fleet capacity in the airline industry, according to experts.

More than 490 flights operated by foreign carriers to and from India have been cancelled for varying periods of time while the count of weekly flights cancelled by domestic airlines is more than 90, as per official data.

The number of cancelled flights on international routes is expected to rise as India has also suspended all visas, except a few categories such as diplomatic and employment, till April 15 as part of efforts to curb spreading of coronavirus infections.

Data shared by aviation consultancy CAPA showed that capacity or the number of seats available weekly on various international flight routes connecting India has significantly come down for the week that started on March 9 compared to the situation in December last year.

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.

According to him, the count might further come down to around 40,000 following the travel advisory issued on Wednesday. There are 30 international airports in the country.

From being "nimble in approach" to adverse impact on quarterly earnings, domestic carriers have already flagged their concerns about coronavirus impact on their businesses.

The Association of Private Airport Operators (APAO) has flagged various problems in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, including that of "less sales at the Food and Beverage, and retail outlets" at aerodromes.

In a letter to the civil aviation ministry on Wednesday, the grouping also said airport operators are now required to significantly beef up manpower deployment as well as make expenditure on items like masks, sanitisers and floor cleaners, in order to ensure compliance with various government advisories.

Further, APAO has sought approval for "levying of a nominal passenger facilitation charge as part of airline fares to cover increased operating expenses being incurred by the operators", as per the letter.

It has also sought provisioning of an "airport operator alleviation package by AERA to facilitate the growing operational expenses". Regulator AERA fixes tariffs for certain categories of airports.

Referring to the government's decision to suspend visas from March 13 till April 15, CAPA said the ban would cripple the aviation industry with very serious impact on airlines with weaker balance sheet.

Overall, it would be a "serious blow" to the aviation industry, CAPA CEO (South Asia) Kapil Kaul told PTI.

Peak travel period, which generally starts from April, would be impacted.

A senior airline industry official said domestic air traffic might start increasing as the people who had planned their vacations abroad could visit domestic destinations.

Full service carrier Vistara, on Thursday, said business on some of its international and domestic routes has been impacted by coronavirus outbreak. "At Vistara, we are reviewing the situation everyday and remain nimble in our approach," an airline spokesperson said.

On Wednesday, the country's largest airline IndiGo said it was expecting quarterly earnings to be adversely impacted as daily bookings have declined 15-20 per cent in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

The airline has also suspended Staff Leisure Travel (SLT) to certain countries, including China, Singapore and Hong Kong.

SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh said the aviation sector is under a lot of pressure but that was "temporary".

"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.

"... the Indian aviation market and especially our domestic market has immense potential and will remain amongst the fastest growing in the world," he said on Thursday.

On the positive, an airline official said excess international capacity can be redeployed on domestic routes and that fall in oil prices, which account for around 40 per cent of operational costs, is a silver lining.