Ryanair expects April and May bookings to fall 10% due to the coronavirus outbreak, dealing a “meaningful impact” to quarterly earnings, but its CE Michael O’Leary said Tuesday the situation will stabilise by early summer. The airline said Monday it would cut 25% of its Italian capacity for three weeks but it was far too early to speculate about earnings from the next financial year, which begins April 1. Asked about the prospects for earnings in the three months to June 30, Q1 of Ryanair’s financial year, O’Leary on Tuesday said “there will be a meaningful impact.” “At the moment we’re expecting a 10% decline in bookings through the months of April and maybe May. We could be down about 2m passengers over that period,” O’Leary said. “But that I think would be about the extent of it,” he added, saying that once temperatures begin to rise in Europe in May and June “the hysteria about the spread of the COVID virus will have calmed down again.” O’Leary said his airline has not yet responded with cheaper pricing but it would stimulate the market if necessary closer to the summer. He hinted that the crisis would have some upsides for Ryanair, reducing pressure from the delayed delivery of Boeing 737 MAX jets, grounded due to two fatal crashes, and possibly putting weaker rivals out of business.<br/>
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Hainan Airlines’ parent company, the HNA Group, has requested the Hainan provincial government to set up a working group to look into its risk management efforts. HNA states that it has faced increased liquidity risk in light of the coronavirus outbreak, and was unable to manage the risks by itself. The joint working group, which the provincial government will set up with other relevant parties, will “fully assist” in HNA’s risk management work. Gu Gang, chairman of Hainan Development Holdings, the government’s investment arm, will lead the joint working group. HNA’s appeal for government help comes amid reports that the group might be taken over by the Chinese government. HNA has faced a liquidity crunch for the past few years. Reports have also suggested that state-owned carriers Air China and China Eastern were preparing to discuss a takeover of HNA’s aviation assets.<br/>
Emirates has seen “some slowdown in certain markets” as a result of the outbreak of the coronavirus. The Dubai-based airline said it has had to amend its operating schedule by either reducing frequencies or cancelling flights to specific destinations. Emirates had “fully activated” its Crisis Management Centre in January to “closely monitor the situation and take decisive action across all areas of our business.” These measures have included adjusting the operational schedule, amending capacity to meet passenger demand across different markets, providing medical advice to staff, and implementing necessary measures at the airport. “The knock-on effect of these operational changes has resulted in more resources than required in certain areas of the business for our day-to-day requirements,” a statement read. “Considering the availability of additional resources and the fact that many employees want to utilize their leave, we have provided our employees the option to avail leave or apply for voluntary unpaid leave for up to one month at a time.” Emirates said it has stepped up its aircraft cleaning measures. Emirates added that that while demand has slowed down in some countries, “there has been high demand in other areas”. <br/>
SilkAir will suspend flights to Japan's Hiroshima on the back of weak demand, which has been made worse by the coronavirus outbreak. SilkAir said Tuesday that the last flight for MI867 will be from Hiroshima to Singapore on March 26. The flights will be suspended indefinitely. It said that it will contact all affected customers and arrange to accommodate them on other flights. SilkAir started flying the Singapore-Hiroshima route in October 2017. It had said then that the Japanese city was popular with Singaporeans because of its historical significance, good weather and proximity to various attractions in neighbouring cities. The move is the latest one by the Singapore Airlines Group to cut costs as it adjusts to plummeting demand due to the coronavirus outbreak.<br/>
Vietjet Air will suspend flights to destinations in South Korea from Saturday over coronavirus concerns, the carrier said. Vietnam has suspended visa-free travel for South Koreans, and airlines Bamboo Airways and Vietnam Airlines have both suspended South Korea flights. “Vietjet earlier scaled down the number of flights to South Korea,” the carrier said on its website on Wednesday. “The suspension is effective from March 7.”<br/>