Air New Zealand cuts 20 per cent of its flights to Asia as the coronavirus outbreak causes a $72MILLION hit to the airline's bottom line
- Air New Zealand is slashing its flight capacity by almost 20 per cent in Asia
- Airline said few wanted to fly from Asia and even fewer wanted to travel there
- Comes as spread of virus continues with first case reported in Latin America
- Virus has reached every continent but Antarctica and infected 80,000 people
Air New Zealand is slashing capacity by almost 20 per cent in Asia to reduce the impact of the coronavirus on its bottom line.
The airline expects the impact of the virus on earnings to be in the range of $NZD35 million ($AUD34 million) to $NZD75 million ($AUD72 million) due to lower demand and capacity cuts.
An Air New Zealand spokesperson said fewer people are wanting to fly from Asia to New Zealand and even greater numbers don't want to travel to the continent.
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Air New Zealand has announced it is reducing its Asia capacity by 17 per cent until June because of reduced demand over coronavirus fears (stock image)
The airline is reducing its Asia capacity by 17 per cent until June, including cutting flights to Hong Kong and suspending Shanghai services until March and Seoul flights from March to June.
Pacific Islands' demand remains strong but Air NZ is also reducing trans-Tasman flights by three per cent until May, mainly to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
The announcement came as South Korea and China each reported hundreds more cases of COVID-19 on Thursday.
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South Korea reported 334 more cases, bringing its total to 1,595. Most of the new cases were in the country's fourth-biggest city, Daegu, where the outbreak has hit hardest.
China reported 433 new cases along with 29 additional deaths. Thursday's updates bring mainland China's totals to 78,497 cases, and 2,744 deaths.
With Brazil on Wednesday confirming Latin America's first case, the virus has reached every continent but Antarctica and infected more than 80,000 people.
Passengers wearing face masks arrive at Perth International Airport on February 2. The continuing global spread of COVID-19 has for the first time caused more cases outside China than inside the country
Global worries about the COVID-19 illness are multiplying, as the epidemic expanded geographically and for the first time caused more new cases outside China than inside the country.
In Australia, a leading bio-security expert has warned the coronavirus may hit Australia harder than China because of the country's ageing population.
The flu-like virus, which spawned in Wuhan, China in December, is more severe in older people because their immune systems are weaker.
In Australia 16 per cent of the population are over 65, compared to just nine per cent in China.
The government will decide on Thursday whether to extend its travel ban on Chinese visitors to Australia for another week, while possibly easing restrictions on international students.
Last week the government lifted the ban on Year 11 and 12 students coming in from China under strict rules, and at the time said it would consider a controlled opening for Chinese university students a week later.
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