Is Coronavirus Shutting Off Asia Tourism?

As yet another airline has announced it is cutting back on flights to and from Asia due to the global coronavirus, the region is in danger of being shut off to the rest of the world, at least in the near term.

Singapore Airlines said Tuesday it will temporarily cut flights across its global network until at least May.

“Singapore Airlines and SilkAir will temporarily reduce services across our network due to weak demand as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak,” the carrier said in a statement, referring to the virus by its new name. “We will continue to monitor the situation and make further adjustments as necessary.”

Singapore is a key tourist destination, and the airline noted affected destinations include Frankfurt, Jakarta, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, Paris, Seoul, Sydney and Tokyo – virtually every corner of the world.

“It’s not a surprise to see some cuts in flights, given the weak forward bookings that can be expected from the current environment,” DBS analyst Paul Yong told Reuters.

But if these cuts in flights continue, Asia is in danger of being cut off from the rest of the world.

According to the United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), 50 airlines have significantly cut back operations and 70 have fully canceled all international flights to and from mainland China. The outbreak of the virus began in China’s Wuhan Province.

The cutbacks have resulted in an 80 percent reduction of foreign airline capacity for travelers to and from China, as well as a 40 percent capacity reduction by Chinese airlines, coronavirus-will-lower-global-airline-revenue-by-up-to-5-billion-in-the-first-quarter-report/#557f03be47b0″ target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow noopener noreferrer”>according to Forbes.

So far, ICAO says global airline revenues are set to fall by $4 billion to $5 billion in the first quarter of 2020.

Forbes also noted that Japan, not China, has lost the most so far with a 16 percent reduction in total international flight capacity.

There have been 200,000 less direct flight seats available between Japan and China due to the reduction in flights, with ICAO estimating Japan will lose $1.29 billion in tourism revenue in the first quarter of this year.