Airbus is reviewing its 2020 delivery targets, issued barely three weeks ago, as the global spread of coronavirus in recent days through Europe and into the US pushes the aviation industry into crisis mode. Passenger demand plunged sharply at the weekend, forcing carriers around the world to freeze hiring and slash the number of flights. IATA will on Thursday significantly increase its estimate of the hit to global sales as a result of the virus. Just 12 days ago it estimated a near $30b impact, based largely on the reduction in flights to and from China. Current data shows a 2.8% fall in global aircraft capacity so far this year, according to aviation data consultancy, Ascend, against IATA’s expectations late last year for growth of 4.7% in 2020. In that context Airbus will not be alone in reassessing its guidance for this year. Executives from both the aerospace and airline industries said they were monitoring the situation on a daily basis. “We’re in a crisis zone for airlines. The situation has rather dramatically accelerated over this last weekend,” said Brian Pearce, chief economist at IATA. “This is far worse than the Sars episode,” he added. “It’s looking more like the global financial crisis, where airline revenues fell 16% in 2009. We’re not there yet but it will depend on the success of which governments manage to contain this European outbreak.” Story has more details.<br/>
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The worst is still to come for the airline industry in terms of economic damage from the coronavirus outbreak, European bosses warned Tuesday, but they predicted that travel demand could stabilise in the coming weeks. Coronavirus has hit travel demand, forcing airlines to cancel flights and cut costs, and ask governments and regulators for help, as they battle to get to grips with what they hope will be short-term, rather than long-term, disruption. The heads of Europe’s biggest carriers including Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary; Willie Walsh, boss of BA-owner IAG; and easyJet’s Johan Lundgren said at an annual industry conference the epidemic was upsetting growth. “We have seen a drop in demand when you look particularly in the northern part of Italy, but that has also spilled over to the other parts of the network,” easyJet CEO Johan Lundgren said. IAG’s Walsh also noted a “very significant fall-off in demand” in Italian markets in the past week. But he predicted demand would stabilise in coming weeks if bookings followed the pattern seen in Asia. “I think we will see air traffic recover in due course,” he said. Ryanair’s O’Leary agreed the next few weeks would be tough. He said he expected a “very deflated booking environment” for the next two to three weeks, but should the crisis stabilise, bookings would recover. “I think you will see a pretty rapid return to normal,” he said. Yet the bosses acknowledged it could get a lot worse before it gets better.<br/>
The Trump administration and US airlines are clashing over how to collect and disseminate contact information for travellers entering the country as the government steps up efforts to track the coronavirus. The dispute spilled into the open this week ahead of a White House meeting Wednesday between VP Mike Pence and airline executives. Last month, the Department of Health and Human Services and CDC instructed carriers to divulge each traveller’s name, email and US address, plus two telephone numbers. The airlines say they often lack all five pieces of data on their customers -- especially for those who purchased tickets abroad or through a third-party, or those who transferred from another airline because of interrupted travel plans. About 26% of passengers don’t have a phone number in their travel record and 44% don’t have an email, according to Airlines for America, a lobbying group. “It’s clear to me that the government is going to require the collection of this information,” Sharon Pinkerton, senior VP of legislative and regulatory policy at Airlines for America, said Tuesday. “It is not clear to me how they are going to require it.” Another proposed change for “contact tracing” would be for airlines to ask US citizens returning from abroad for an address when they return to the country. Such a requirement is spurring privacy concerns among US airlines, Pinkerton said. The question is already part of what Customs and Border Protection asks foreign travellers, but no enforcement mechanism exists if the response isn’t truthful. The airlines have suggested that the US establish a website or new mobile app to require submission of all five pieces of contact data, as Singapore and South Korea have done, Pinkerton said.<br/>
Europe’s much-vaunted single aviation market remains an incomplete initiative, costing airlines E37b per year in terms of disunity in legislation and application of regulations, according to an independent air transport research group. Half of this figure – some E17.4b – could be saved by implementing an updated regulatory framework for the Single European Sky programme, says a study from a University of Bergamo specialist centre. Other savings potentially arise from taxation, airport charge, and border-control changes. The International Centre for Competitiveness Studies in the Aviation Industry has conducted the analysis, Cost of Non-Europe in Aviation, for the industry group Airlines for Europe, A4E, which is holding its annual aviation summit in Brussels this week. A4E says the EU’s ‘open skies’ competitive arena and reduction of air fares remain crucial achievements, after the single aviation market emerged in 1992, but the absence of a seamless airspace structure and revised regulatory framework is still costing airlines substantial sums. The E17.4b figure is more than treble the E5b saving estimate put forward by the EC in 2013, says A4E MD Thomas Reynaert. “[Full Single European Sky] implementation would allow airlines to put these funds to better use, for example investing them in new aircraft technologies or sustainable aviation fuels,” he says.<br/>
Kenya is the first African country to suspend direct flights from two cities in northern Italy over concerns about the spread of coronavirus. Tunisia and Nigeria are dealing with confirmed cases from patients who had travelled from Italy. Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe said that the decision was reached following consultations with the Italian embassy. "The National Emergency Response Committee on Coronavirus has concluded that flights from North of Italy, specifically Verona and Milan be suspended effective 3rd March 2020. This is part of Italy that is currently experiencing coronavirus incidents which could affect the safety of Kenyans," Mr Kagwe said. But the WHO says that issuing travel advisories to countries with confirmed coronavirus cases will not help reduce the probability of an outbreak.<br/>
Airport retail outlets have been a rare success story in the slumping bricks-and-mortar world. Now, duty-free and other airport shops are under siege from the coronavirus. Travellers from Asia in particular have made duty-free shopping sprees an essential part of their itinerary. But these stores are being pummeled since the coronavirus outbreak began, as foot traffic drops at airports popular with international tourists. Airport retail at some of the major Asian hubs has tumbled 60% to 70%, according to the Moodie Davitt Report. A wave of disruptions to air travel amid the coronavirus epidemic has led to an 80% drop in traffic at China’s busiest airports. “This is the greatest crisis the travel retail sector has faced, worse than [severe acute respiratory syndrome], the two Gulf wars or various financial crises,” said Martin Moodie, chairman of the report. “That’s largely driven by the fact that the Chinese traveler has become the epicenter of the sector over recent years and many retailers are worryingly reliant on them.” In a February survey of more than 1,000 international travellers from the US, UK, Australia and Asia who are regular duty-free shoppers, more than one-third said they would spend less time in a store, not make a purchase if they need to wait in line, and would be less likely to touch or pick up items, according to UK-based travel-research specialist Pi Insight. “There’s a high portion of travellers who want to go straight to the departure gate,” said Stephen Hillam, managing director at Pi Insight. Story has more.<br/>
Executives from planemakers Airbus and Boeing said on Tuesday that it was too early to say whether the outbreak of a new coronavirus would affect demand for aircraft. Christian Scherer, CCO of Airbus, said in Brussels that the coronavirus could cause an adjustment to demand for aircraft but it would not be large-scale. "The violent cyclicality seen in the 1980s is no longer there," Scherer said. Ihssane Mounir, senior VP, commercial sales and market at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said that coronavirus had put discussions with Chinese customers on hold.<br/>
CNN Travel spoke to airlines, airplane companies and medical experts to find out what's been done to ensure you're flying in as hygienic an environment as possible, and what passengers can do for extra reassurance. Christian Rooney is the manager of JetWash Aero, a specialist aviation cleaning company based in the UK that's tasked with turning around aircraft between flights. Rooney said that the cleaning process varies depending on the schedule of the aircraft in question. When aircraft downtime is very limited, some of what Rooney calls the "very straightforward cleaning," such as removing old newspapers and passenger trash, will be done by the cabin crew at the end of the previous flight. "A basic but more thorough cabin clean is usually carried out at night -- or when there is more downtime -- and it includes the cleaning of toilets, wiping down and disinfecting of trays, cleaning galleys, [overhead bins], seats etc. This may take up to an hour or longer," explains Rooney. "An airline will also always schedule a 'deep interior clean' every month or six weeks. This clean takes several hours and is extremely thorough." Cleaning products and disinfectants are approved by aircraft manufacturers, says Rooney. "Some of the disinfectants we use are effective against a wide range of pathogens and are known to inactivate complex viruses with similar properties to SARS, E. coli, avian flu, MRSA etc," he adds.<br/>These offer antimicrobial protection for up to 10 days, he says.<br/>
Thailand’s top provider of jet refuelling services said its goal of greener business operations will help cushion the blow from the coronavirus outbreak, which is hurting demand by stalling tourism.The firm, Bangkok Aviation Fuel Services, is building a 586-km pipeline from central to northern Thailand to transport oil products for automobiles and industry. The connection is expected to be finished in 2020. The pipeline saves on greenhouse gas emissions by replacing transportation trucks that pollute through exhaust fumes, President Prakobkiat Ninnad said. At the same time, fuel demand in the automobile and industrial sectors is less volatile than in tourism-reliant aviation, he said. “The pipeline project is paying off thanks to correct timing,” he said Tuesday. Bangkok Aviation Fuel Services said carbon credits it expects to get courtesy of the pipeline will offset other emissions, leaving it operationally carbon neutral. That calculation excludes the carbon content of the oil products themselves. The firm has lowered its 2020 revenue growth target to 6% from 10%, reflecting the difficulties for airlines from the travel curbs imposed to slow the virus.<br/>