With SARS-Cov-2 virus knocking on all doors around the world, the aviation industry is facing its darkest hour with uncertainty looming over many airlines, airports and other stakeholders in the industry.
In these grim times, we are still struggling to find the “light at the end of the tunnel” which we are searching for since the governments around the world ordered lockdowns and temporary halt to our daily lives. News from China that the virus has slowed down, especially in the region Wuhan where the pandemic started has brought a glimpse of hope that the aviation industry could start its recovery path.
However, at the moment its the complete contrast as the aviation industry is coming to a halt with major airlines grounding their fleet and reducing operations to a bare minimum, albeit for few charter flights to bring medical equipment or bring back its citizens stranded abroad. The move which has not been seen since the volcanic eruption from 2010 or 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Currently, there is over 10% decrease in March in compare to the same month last year, with predictions of dark numbers for the month of April where we expect the peak of the virus.
FlightRadar24, a flight-tracking website, have published a graph showing they recorded the least number of flights in a day since they started recording flights in 2016 as shown on the image below:
Flightradar24 recorded the lowest number of flights since recordings started in 2016
AIRLINES LOOKING FOR GOVERNMENT HELP
Around the world, airlines and other air operators are looking for help from the government. Airlines in UK have warned that their aviation industry may not survive the coronavirus pandemic without emergency financial support. Other European airlines are also facing financial difficulties as Europe’s airlines are expected to lose $76bn (£63bn) in passenger revenues over the course of 2020 because of travel bans combating the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. The industry this week called for governments around the world to intervene with cash support – including cash injections, loans and tax reliefs – to stave off a “liquidity crisis”. Alexandre de Juniac, Iata’s chief executive, said that failure to do so could cause airlines to fail “en masse”.
AVIATION SAFETY?
Aviation safety is being scrunitised in the view of the virus and how to protect flight crew and passengers from the virus. The industry itself reacted well and promoted the safety directives from various organizations like EASA to minimize the spread of the virus. Flight crew are protected with the special equipment and masks while airlines are trying to bring back its passengers and bring medical supplies to their countries. We can only say that aviation industry has kept on fighting and is doing an amazing job in this battle against the invisible enemy that has caught the world by surprise.
CORONAVIRUS NOT STOPPING YET
As the world is stepping up its efforts to combat COVID-19, the virus does not look stopping yet. In the moment of writing there are currently 637,828 Coronavirus cases with 29,881 deaths around the world. This would give a fatality rate of 4.6%. However, 139,540 people have recovered from the virus. The virus is hitting the strongest U.S.A followed by Italy and Spain while China is recording minimum number of cases and has started to recover.
| Country, | Total | Total |
| Other | Cases | Deaths |
| World | 637,828 | 29,881 |
| USA | 112,635 | 1,880 |
| Italy | 92,472 | 10,023 |
| China | 81,394 | 3,295 |
| Spain | 72,248 | 5,812 |
| Germany | 53,340 | 399 |
| Iran | 35,408 | 2,517 |
| France | 32,964 | 1,995 |
| UK | 17,089 | 1,019 |
| Switzerland | 13,377 | 242 |
| Netherlands | 9,762 | 639 |
| S. Korea | 9,478 | 144 |
Croatia has recorded up to date 657 cases with 4 deaths.
WHAT NEXT?
The imminent action that is needed in the industry is the financial support to all airlines from their respective countries and governments. The airlines are reducing the number of operations to a minimum and laying off staff to unpaid leave in an attempt to save their companies. During this period, the countries are implementing measures of social distancing and quarantines to keep the new infections to a low rate and gradually open up once the virus is contained. How long it will take is difficult to forecast, especially as different countries are at different stages in fight with the virus with different resources. The aviation industry is facing arguably the fiercest crisis to date as are other industries. The eyes are for the moment on the governments to help aviation industry as it has been already highlighted by IATA and ICAO in their publications.
