Aviation Industry Grounded by Coronavirus

After life and business in China have ground to a halt following the coronavirus outbreak, airlines in the region and around the world are feeling the negative impacts on travel. Since manufacturing as well as the service and entertainment industries have all suffered because Chinese workers are forced to stay home and many people are reluctant to leave the house any more than strictly necessary, travel has been cut to a minimum.

Especially air travel has had a big contribution in spreading the virus around the world, which has led to the suspension of flights to and from China. Not surprisingly, smaller economies in the vicinity of the larger neighbor have seen their international flight capacities slashed – Taiwan and Hong Kong are the hardest hit. But countries in the wider region have also suffered. Japan and South Korea saw around 75 and 70 percent fewer flights, respectively, putting a serious strain on airlines there.

Countries further away were also among the worst affected, with Canadian international flights down 58 percent and those to and from Russia down by 67 percent.