Airline Industry Devastated by Travel Bans

Passenger airlines have already been devastated by an increasing number of entry bans for travelers from Korea as coronavirus infections spike here.

By Tuesday, some 18 countries around the country have banned or restricted travelers from Korea including Bahrain, Hong Kong, Israel, Macau, Qatar and the U.K.

The Mongolian government on Monday asked Korean Air and Asiana Airlines to halt flights between your two countries. Singapore Airlines will minimize flights to Incheon next month. Until early this month, 1,400 persons took the Incheon-Singapore route every day, but that has fallen almost 40 percent to significantly less than 900 people.

One airline insider said, "Until last month, Koreans tried in order to avoid planing a trip to Singapore after new coronavirus cases were reported there, however now, Singaporeans are shunning happen to be Korea."

Philippine Airlines made a decision to stop flights between Incheon and Manila starting the following month, while Air Macau has recently halted flights to and from Korea until the end of this month. Thai Airways will minimize flights from Bangkok to Incheon and Busan next month, while Vietnam Airlines will halt flights between Incheon and Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Na Trang.

Air New Zealand will halt flights to Korea from March 8 to late June. Japan Airlines will lessen flights connecting Gimpo and Haneda from two to one a day and Busan-Narita flights from three to two. A major travel agency in Hong Kong said Monday that all trips to Korea departing before March 31 have been canceled following the territory banned visitors from Korea.

Industry watchers warn that more countries and airlines will limit access to Koreans. "A total of 41 countries have completely banned Chinese from entering, so if infections keep soaring here, a lot more may also ban Koreans."

Airlines listed below are nervously watching if the U.S. raises its travel advisory to Korea. At Korean Air, sales from flights to the U.S. take into account 29 percent of total revenues, while Southeast Asia makes up about 21 percent, Europe 19 percent, China 12 percent and Japan nine percent.

If flights to the U.S. are halted, around thirty percent of revenues will be wiped out. Because of spreading jitters, the number of Koreans planing a trip to the U.S. has already declined by around 40 percent since January compared to the same month this past year.

"We're barely managing to survive thanks to our flights to the U.S. and Europe, despite the fact that flights to China, Japan and Southeast Asia have already been hit hard," a Korean Air staffer said. "We're closely watching the decisions of U.S. health authorities."

The U.S. STATE DEPT. raised its travel advisory for Korea by a notch to "strengthened caution" on Saturday but could raise it further any time, recommending Americans avoid visiting Korea unless essential.

Hurr Hee-young at Korea Aviation University said, "Flights in procedure right now have already suffered from declining passenger numbers, however now airlines need to consider the chance of zero business. This is an unprecedented crisis that's wreaking havoc on the Korean aviation industry."