United warned Thursday that bookings have slowed and cancellations have increased as the number of coronavirus infections spikes across the country. Southwest has also seen more cancellations, and the carrier’s CEO said that travel demand will be remain weak in Q1. The number of people flying in the US is down about 65% from a year ago, and airlines were hoping that the upcoming holidays would mean an increase in leisure travel. United said however that it continues to see the virus hurting travel. In the past week, “there has been a deceleration in system bookings and an uptick in cancellations as a result of the recent spike in COVID-19 cases,” United said in a regulatory filing. United expects to operate no more than 45% of its normal schedule in Q4. and it continues to forecast a 67% decline in revenue compared with last year’s Q4. Southwest officials said bookings are rising for the holidays but so are cancellations — they didn’t provide numbers for either.<br/>
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Panama’s Copa Airlines struggled during Q3 as travel restrictions almost completely shut down the airline for the first 45 days of the period. The company on Thursday reported a net loss of $118m on revenue of just $32.4m during the quarter that ended on 30 September. Revenue was more than 95% less than during the same period a year ago. The airline’s potential recovery was hamstrung by a Panamanian government order that effectively sealed off the country for almost half a year – an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The carrier suspended most operations on 22 March after the government imposed a ban on international inbound travel. For Copa, which has long marketed its home at Panama City’s Tocumen International airport as “the hub of the Americas”, that was devastating. In mid-August some restrictions were lifted, allowing Copa to operate for the first time in five months. On 11 October, foreigners and non-residents were finally permitted to re-enter the country. Copa restarted operations with eight destinations, expanding to 15 by the end of September, 30 at the end of October and 38 in mid-November. “The company has been gradually restarting destinations and adding frequencies as quickly as easing of restrictions and passenger demand has permitted,” says chief executive Pedro Heilbron.<br/>