VIRUS OUTBREAK: LONDON- Epidemic could cost airlines US$113b in lost revenues: Iata

March 8, 2020 Contributor 0 Comment VIRUS OUTBREAK: LONDON- Epidemic could cost airlines US$113b in lost revenues: Iata

This is three times its forecast just two weeks back; Flybe collapses, while Norwegian Air scraps profit forecast

The failure of Flybe comes less than two months after a rescue deal for the firm was agreed.

PHOTO: REUTERS

London

THE coronavirus epidemic could cost passenger airlines up to US$113 billion in lost revenue this year, an industry body warned on Thursday, more than three times a projection it made just two weeks ago as the virus continues to spread around the world.

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The warning from the International Air Transport Association (Iata) came as British regional carrier Flybe became the first big casualty of the slump in travel demand due to the crisis and Norwegian Air scrapped its profit forecast for this year.

Airlines across the world are rushing to cut flights and costs, and warning of a hit to earnings, as the virus that started in China spreads, raising fears of a pandemic that could plunge the global economy into recession.

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In a sign of the difficulties this is creating for airlines, a Turkish Airlines jet was flown back to Istanbul without any passengers on board on Thursday on orders from Singapore after a passenger who had arrived on the same plane on Tuesday tested positive for the virus.