NEW DELHI: Vistara has cancelled over 50 flights to Bangkok and Singapore in March 2020, due to the coronavirus outbreak that has reduced demand for travel to southeast Asia. Air India has already enforced cuts on Singapore flights and GoAir has stopped them. IndiGo is like to take a call on this issue shortly.
“Vistara has made temporary adjustments to selected services to and from Bangkok and Singapore in March 2020, in response to weak demand due to the Covid-19 outbreak. As a result, 20 flights between Delhi and Bangkok; 26 flights between Mumbai and Singapore; and 8 flights between Delhi and Singapore will be cancelled in March 2020,” the airline said in a statement.
“Customers booked on any of the cancelled flights can either opt for a full refund (no cancellation fee) or change to alternative dates free of cost (no reissuance fee). Vistara will continue to monitor the situation and progressively evaluate the need for any further adjustments to its schedule to meet changing demand patterns,” the statement added.
Last week, India asked its citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Singapore and is screening passengers coming from there due to the coronavirus outbreak. Air India (AI) had a daily on Delhi-Singapore-Delhi and Mumbai-Chennai-Singapore-Chennai-Mumbai sectors. “From this week, the Delhi flight will operate five days a week and Mumbai four times. So the 14 times weekly is now nine times weekly with five flights being suspended,” said an AI official. GoAir is also suspending Singapore flights due to slot issue.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) has further increased its flight suspension across network, including India, till May-end. SIA’s Singapore-Cochin-Singapore will see the maximum cancellations (among its India nework) with 22 flights each way being cancelled in March and April. Flights on Singapore-Mumbai-Singapore route have been cancelled on eight days in March. Singapore-Kolkata-Singapore and Singapore-Bengaluru-Singapore have been cancelled on three days each in March. Singapore-Chennai-Singapore flights have been cancelled on two days in March, while one flight has been cancelled to and from Hyderabad in the same month.
Globally, airlines have been hit hard by reduced travel demand and flight restrictions due to this pandemic. On Wednesday, German major Lufthansa said it is taking steps to “to counteract the economic impact of the coronavirus at an early stage”. These include: “All new hires planned for the airline with the crane will be reassessed, suspended or deferred to a later date. Lufthansa is also offering employees unpaid leave effective immediately. An expansion of part-time work options in the context of collective bargaining agreements is currently being examined.”
“All planned flight attendant and station personnel training courses as of April 2020 will not be carried out. For the time being, the participants of courses that are already in progress will not be hired. However, the aim remains to be able to offer the participants employment contracts in the long-term. In the administrative areas, the core brand Lufthansa will reduce its project volume by ten per cent and the budget for material costs by 20%,” Lufthansa said in a statement.
Lufthansa Group has cancelled all flights by Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian Airlines to and from mainland China till March 28. “Due to the current demand situation for flights to and from Hong Kong, capacity adjustments have already been made on this route, and additional frequency adjustments to and from Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich are planned. In purely mathematical terms, 13 Lufthansa Group aircraft are currently on the ground,” it said.
“Vistara has made temporary adjustments to selected services to and from Bangkok and Singapore in March 2020, in response to weak demand due to the Covid-19 outbreak. As a result, 20 flights between Delhi and Bangkok; 26 flights between Mumbai and Singapore; and 8 flights between Delhi and Singapore will be cancelled in March 2020,” the airline said in a statement.
“Customers booked on any of the cancelled flights can either opt for a full refund (no cancellation fee) or change to alternative dates free of cost (no reissuance fee). Vistara will continue to monitor the situation and progressively evaluate the need for any further adjustments to its schedule to meet changing demand patterns,” the statement added.
Last week, India asked its citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Singapore and is screening passengers coming from there due to the coronavirus outbreak. Air India (AI) had a daily on Delhi-Singapore-Delhi and Mumbai-Chennai-Singapore-Chennai-Mumbai sectors. “From this week, the Delhi flight will operate five days a week and Mumbai four times. So the 14 times weekly is now nine times weekly with five flights being suspended,” said an AI official. GoAir is also suspending Singapore flights due to slot issue.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) has further increased its flight suspension across network, including India, till May-end. SIA’s Singapore-Cochin-Singapore will see the maximum cancellations (among its India nework) with 22 flights each way being cancelled in March and April. Flights on Singapore-Mumbai-Singapore route have been cancelled on eight days in March. Singapore-Kolkata-Singapore and Singapore-Bengaluru-Singapore have been cancelled on three days each in March. Singapore-Chennai-Singapore flights have been cancelled on two days in March, while one flight has been cancelled to and from Hyderabad in the same month.
Globally, airlines have been hit hard by reduced travel demand and flight restrictions due to this pandemic. On Wednesday, German major Lufthansa said it is taking steps to “to counteract the economic impact of the coronavirus at an early stage”. These include: “All new hires planned for the airline with the crane will be reassessed, suspended or deferred to a later date. Lufthansa is also offering employees unpaid leave effective immediately. An expansion of part-time work options in the context of collective bargaining agreements is currently being examined.”
“All planned flight attendant and station personnel training courses as of April 2020 will not be carried out. For the time being, the participants of courses that are already in progress will not be hired. However, the aim remains to be able to offer the participants employment contracts in the long-term. In the administrative areas, the core brand Lufthansa will reduce its project volume by ten per cent and the budget for material costs by 20%,” Lufthansa said in a statement.
Lufthansa Group has cancelled all flights by Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian Airlines to and from mainland China till March 28. “Due to the current demand situation for flights to and from Hong Kong, capacity adjustments have already been made on this route, and additional frequency adjustments to and from Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich are planned. In purely mathematical terms, 13 Lufthansa Group aircraft are currently on the ground,” it said.
Download The Times of India News App for Latest Business News.
more from times of india business
Quick Links
ELSS Mutual Funds BenefitsIncome Tax Refund statusWhat is AssochamITR Filing Last DateHome Loan EMI TipsHome Loan Repayment TipsPradhan Mantri Awas YojanaTop UP Loan FeaturesIncrease Home Loan EligibilityHome Loan on PFTax Saving Fixed DepositLink Aadhaar with ITRAtal Pension YojanaNita AmbaniIndian EconomyRBIAadhaar CardSBIReliance CommunicationsMukesh AmbaniIndian Bank Ifsc codeIDBI Ifsc codeIndusind ifsc codeYes Bank Ifsc CodeVijay Bank Ifsc codeSyndicate bank Ifsc CodePNB Ifsc codeOBC Ifsc codeKarur vysya bank ifscIOB Ifsc codeICICI Ifsc codeHDFC Bank ifsc codeCanara Bank Ifsc codeBank of baroda ifscBank of America IFSC CodeBOM IFSC CodeAndhra Bank IFSC CodeAxis Bank Ifsc CodeSBI IFSC CodeGST
Get the app