Covid-19 impact on airlines 'severe': IATA

THAI operated its last international service out of Suvarnabhumi International Airport Wednesday, before the flag carrier goes into an "operational hibernation" because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Flight TG920 bound for Frankfurt, Germany took off at 5.15am on Wednesday, more than five hours later than usual. The flight took off with a grim warning in its wake. The IATA published an analysis which shows that airlines may burn through US$61b of their cash reserves in Q2, which ends on June 30, while posting quarterly net losses of about $39b. THAI and several other Thai-registered airlines have made the painful decision to halt their flights this month, although some continue to run limited domestic services. However, experts said flights are likely to be grounded for as long as the Covid-19 outbreak is uncontained. THAI announced on its webpage that it is suspending flights until May 31. In the meantime, the national carrier's top executives have scheduled meetings to turn the financially-ailing airline -- once a profitable state enterprise -- around. The airline is reportedly looking to introduce deep pay cuts across the board, adopt new austerity measures and downsize the operations of its affiliated businesses.<br/>