IAG sees coronavirus having only marginal impact on global travel

The coronavirus epidemic will have a only a marginal impact on global travel demand and the airline industry is healthy enough to absorb any economic slowdown in China, the CE of BA parent IAG said Wednesday. Dozens of airlines have suspended flights to China in response to the worsening health emergency that has killed close to 500, while a meeting of international aviation officials in Singapore was cancelled. “The aviation industry is very robust. We may see some marginal impact,” IAG CEO Willie Walsh said. BA has suspended flights between London Heathrow and Beijing and Shanghai, which Walsh said represented around 1% of the airline’s capacity. There had been no impact on the group’s other airlines. Walsh said he did not expect the virus to deter people from travelling. Asked if the industry was healthy enough to absorb a downturn in China’s economy, he said: “without question” adding that airlines were more capable of responding to economic shocks than in the past. Qatar Airways, which owns a minority stake in IAG, has also cancelled passenger flights to China, though its CE said that was because other countries had placed entry restrictions on those who had recently visited China.<br/>