Emirates airline expects its financial performance to be impacted by the coronavirus outbreak that has led to a global drop in air travel, according to an internal notice. The carrier, whose financial year ends this month, has suspended flights to Iran and most of mainland China. The United Arab Emirates has urged citizens and residents against travelling abroad. “At this stage, there is very little doubt that our financial performance for the year will be impacted,” according to a March 4 internal staff notice that also said passenger numbers were increasingly impacted. Emirates did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “Emirates is a very strong and financially solid airline. The type of aircraft we operate, the length of our routes and our general cost base do mean however that the impacts of adversity can be felt quickly,” the notice said. “The business has moved to review routes, downgrade to smaller capacity, where appropriate, and take out unprofitable flying almost on a daily basis,” it added.<br/>
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On Sunday Israel’s El Al more than doubled its estimates for revenue losses due to the new coronavirus. It now estimated that the decline in revenue it expects for the January-April period to reach $140m-$160m, up from a previous estimate of $50m-$70m. The revenue decline for Q1 will be $80m-$90m. A decline in costs will partially offset the drop in revenue, so the company expects the net impact for the first four months on revenues to be $70m to $90m. El Al warned that the hit would be even bigger because its latest estimates didn’t include the effect of a Health Ministry order, imposing a 14-day quarantine on foreigners visiting from France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Austria. PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday Israel may expand the quarantine rule this week to visitors from all countries. El Al, which has announced plans to lay off 15% of its staff, is in talks with the treasury about aid. <br/>
Various airlines have announced flexible rebooking options for passengers who wish to cancel or reschedule flights including UAE-based Emirates, Etihad Airways, and Air Arabia, which all said they will offer free cancellation and rebooking. Emirates said it will waive booking fees for passengers who decide to change their travel due to the virus outbreak. This is applicable for tickets issued between March 7-31. “Customers can change their booking to any date, for travel within an 11-month date range in the same [cabin] class without penalties. Difference in fare, if applicable, applies. The policy covers all existing destinations across the Emirates network,” the airline said. Adnan Kazim, Emirates Airline’s CCO, said the carrier “will continue to look at ways to provide flexibility, convenience, and peace of mind” to passengers. Emirates added that with the early school closures across the UAE to limit the spread of coronavirus, the new fee waiver policy is applicable on tickets issued on or before March 4 with travel up to May 31. While airlines normally refund passengers who cancel their bookings, there is a fee for that cancellation. Etihad Airways said it is introducing a fee waiver for guests who are required to cancel their flights or change travel plans because of the Covid-19 restrictions. Such restrictions include travel bans that the UAE, for example, has announced for Emiratis traveling to destinations such as Thailand.<br/>
GoAir on Sunday said that it will not charge cancellation and rebooking fees on tickets booked till April 30. GoAir said that flights can be rescheduled up to September 30 under this scheme. "From March 8th to April 30, book confidently to travel on any GoAir flight up to the 30th of September with the confidence that if you change your mind, for any reason, you can cancel or reschedule your flight without incurring any penalty," it said. The statement further said that changes are permissible at least 14 days prior to the date of departure. If there would be any fare differential, it will be applicable on rescheduled tickets. On Friday, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that the government will give suitable recommendations to private airlines for providing relief in cancellation and refunds. Air India has already waived cancellation fees. "I am very happy to tell you that Air India has already waived cancellation charges. You know, Air India, is a little more subject to our persuasion. All the others are private sector carriers. All I can tell you that we will be making suitable recommendations to the private sector carriers," Puri said.<br/>
IndiGo on Saturday announced that it will not charge any fee on the rescheduling of domestic and international flights booked from March 12-March 31. There will be no change fees for flights already booked between March 12- March 31, the airline said. William Boulter, CCO, IndiGo said, "We understand that some passengers are concerned about committing to travel, given the current coronavirus issue. To take this anxiety away and make their travel hassle-free, we are waiving our normal change fees on all travel during the next two weeks and for all new bookings made in that period. It will enable our customers to book their flights at affordable fares, with the flexibility of rescheduling, without change fees, if needed. Whilst the coronavirus is a very serious challenge for us all, we believe that measures such as this will help alleviate its effect on India's travel," he added.<br/>
Moroccan airline Royal Air Maroc said Sunday it has suspended flights to Italy’s Venice and Milan, currently under lockdown by Italian authorities due to a coronavirus outbreak. Flights to the two cities are planned to resume on April 8, RAM said. Earlier in January, the Moroccan airline suspended direct flights to Beijing.<br/>
Malindo Air has ordered its staff to take up to a 50% pay cut and two weeks unpaid leave as the coroanvirus epidemic hurts air travel demand and the broader industry, according to a memo sighted by Reuters. In a company-wide memo sent on Friday, CEO Mushafiz Mustafa Bakri said the airlines have implemented several measures to cope with the revenue shortfall, including suspending flights, appealing to suppliers to defer payments, and asking staff to volunteer for unpaid leave. “With a heavy heart, with not much of any further concrete options, we are now left with no choice but to ask each one of you to take a pay cut of your basic pay of up to 50% for the next several months until normalcy returns,” Mushafiz said. As part of the pay cut, employees were asked to reduce their number of working days by up to 15 days a month. Malindo Air is the first airline in Malaysia to cut employee salary, but Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia Group and its long-haul arm AirAsia X have also taken a beating.<br/>