As the coronavirus outbreak continues to affect the aviation industry, the flight cancellations are mounting. In fact, according to Flight data experts Cirium, some 200,000 flights have now been cancelled as a result of the outbreak.
Since it’s outbreak in late 2019, the coronavirus outbreak has slowly been growing in severity. According to latest data from the World Health Organisation, there are now 75,567 confirmed cases of the virus in China. That equates to 98% of the 76,785 worldwide cases. Given the severity of the outbreak in China, airlines have been cutting flights to the country. In fact, just today British Airways extended its flight suspension to mainland China until the 17th of April 2020.
200,000 flight cancellations
According to aviation data experts Cirium, over 200,000 flights have now been cancelled as a result of the coronavirus outbreak in China. This means that over two thirds of China’s scheduled flights were cancelled to date.
China first restricted flights at Wuhan’s International Airport on the 23rd of January. Since this date, The number of Chinese flights has plummeted. Up until the 18th of April, around 100,000 flights had been cancelled, with the remaining 100,000 having been removed from the schedules going forward.
A global effect
While the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak is in China, the effects of the epidemic are being felt globally. In fact, the Chinese cancellations have affected global air traffic. Richard Evans is a Senior Consultant at Ascend by Cirium. Of the situation he commented: “For the first eight weeks of the year, Cirium’s schedules data shows that global capacity fell by 0.9% compared to 2019.“
Evans went on to add: “We are also now seeing impact outside of China. Countries with the biggest exposure to outbound Chinese leisure travellers, such as Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam and Cambodia have seen schedules cut by 70% or more on services to China.”
Future cancellations
A number of airlines have proactively cancelled cancelled flights to China for a mix of reasons. British Airways has cancelled flights to mainland China until April 17th. It has cited these flight cancellations to advice against travel to China from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. However, British Airways maintains its daily service to Hong Kong.
The big three US airlines, American, United, and Delta have also cancelled their China bound services until mid-April. However, they have cited the cancellations to a sever drop in passenger demand. Unlike British Airways, these carriers have also cancelled their Hong Kong bound services.
While most flight suspensions are currently scheduled until mid-April, there is a possibility that the return to service could be pushed back further depending on how the situation pans out.
Have you missed out on travel to China due to the outbreak? How did this make you feel? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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