Boeing’s beleaguered 737 Max absorbed another blow as Air Canada chopped an order for the grounded aircraft by 11 jets, or 18% of the original deal. The Canadian carrier still has 26 of the planes on order, according to data released Wednesday on Boeing’s website for the month of February. That’s in addition to the 24 Max that Air Canada received before regulators banned the jetliner from commercial flight after two fatal accidents. Air Canada’s shrinking appetite underscores the rising risk of cancellations for the Max, which could worsen as the coronavirus outbreak upends global traval and saps demand for new jets. Aircraft contracts typically allow buyers to scrap an order when delivery has been delayed by a year or more. That gives airlines leverage to renegotiate deals and seek concessions as the worldwide grounding of the Max reaches its first anniversary Friday.<br/>
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Lufthansa said it would cancel 23,000 flights from March 29 to April 24 due to the coronavirus outbreak. "Further cancellations are expected in the coming weeks," Lufthansa said in a statement. It added that the adjustments mainly affect Europe, Asia and the Middle East.<br/>
United said Wednesday it is suspending flights between New York/Newark and Milan and Rome starting on Friday through April 30, the latest airline to scale back service to Italy, the European country worst hit by the coronavirus. United is also suspending service between Washington Dulles and Tel Aviv between April 1 and April 30, but will continue to operate a reduced schedule to Tel Aviv from Newark and San Francisco, it said.<br/>
Air India on Wednesday night announced the temporary suspension of its flight services to Rome, Milan and Seoul. While services to Rome (Italy) are being discontinued from March 15 to March 25, flight operations to Milan (Italy) and Seoul in South Korea will remain suspended between March 14 and March 28, an airline official said. The decision came following the government suspending all visas, except a few categories such as diplomatic and employment, till April 15 to prevent the spread of coronavirus on Wednesday. Passengers of an Air India flight from Milan to New Delhi, which landed at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport on Wednesday, were screened as part of the ongoing preventive measure. "The operating crew of the flight has self-quarantined for 14 days," an Air India official said. The Civil Aviation Ministry has meanwhile asked domestic airlines to consider providing flight cancellation option without any fee to customers who are seeking to cancel their journey plans amid coronavirus concerns, according to a DGCA official.<br/>
Air NZ is expected to make a loss in H2 2020 due to the impact of coronavirus on the business, stock broker Forsyth Barr says. On Monday Air New Zealand withdrew earlier earnings guidance it had provided the market due to increased uncertainty surrounding the duration and scale of the Covid-19 outbreak. Air NZ has already reduced its total network capacity by 10% and suspended services from Auckland to Shanghai and South Korea and reduced services between Auckland and Samoa, Hong Kong, Fiji, Rarotonga, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo and Tonga. Forsyth Barr aviation analyst Andy Bowley said it expected Air NZ to incur a loss in the second half of the 2020 financial year, which ends on June 30. In the six months to December 2019 the airline made $198m before tax. Bowley said he also expected Air NZ to cancel its dividend for H2 of the 2020 financial year. "With both ranges removed within just two weeks of being issued, it is apparent that Air New Zealand is suffering from a severe downturn in forward bookings and an elevated level of cancellations," he said.<br/>