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Nearly 585 international flights have been cancelled to and from India between February 1 and March 6 because of the outbreak of coronavirus. As many as 16 international airlines have cancelled 492 flights and four private Indian airlines have cancelled 93 flights during this period.
According to data available with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, reviewed by BusinessLine , Malaysian carrier Malindo Air (80 flights) and Singapore-based Silk Air (67 flights) have cancelled the most number of flights to and from India.
On a weekly basis, IndiGo has cancelled the highest number of flights at 42. In a exchange filing on Wednesday, IndiGo cautioned against a weak quarter due to the impact of coronavirus, and rupee decline. The no-frills carrier has seen a decline of 15-20 per cent in daily bookings on a week-on-week basis due to coronavirus.
SpiceJet has cancelled 23 flights. SpiceJet’s CMD in a statement on Thursday said: “The aviation sector is under a lot of pressure. But this is temporary. We have been here before.”
The government data also showed that GoAir cancelled 19 flights, and full-service carrier Vistara cancelled 9 flights for the same period.
The cancellations are likely to intensify as the covernment suspended “all existing visas, except diplomatic, official, UN/international organisations, employment, project visas” until April 15. The visa-free travel facility for Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) holders has been suspended.
India imposed these stringent travel curbs after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.
Air China cancelled 16 flights, Air Asia Behad 16 flights, Bangkok Airways 12, Cathay Dragon 21, Cathay Pacific 35, China Eastern Airlines 56, China Southern 28, Korean Air 10, Malindo Air 80, Silk Air 67, Singapore Airlines 36, Saudi Arabian Airline 36, Thai Airways 22, Thai Air Aisa 35, Turkmenistan Airlines 1 and Thai lion 20 flights.
Two Iranian airlines, Mahan Air and Iran Air have suspended its flights between India and Tehran for the winter schedule according to the data.
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