Coronavirus pandemic | Visa suspension may lead to foreign airlines reducing India services

In the aftermath of the central government’s decision to suspend most visas over the fear of spread of coronavirus, the international airlines are expected to reduce their services over the next one month - except certain categories - with effect from March 13, The Indian Express has reported.

Foreign nationals account for 50-70 percent of passenger traffic for overseas carriers operating to India, an official at a West Asian airline told the publication.

According to the report, Doha-based Qatar Airways, which operates to 13 cities in India, has reduced its services to some airports including Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi. This has been done while all Indian carriers flying to Doha have already cancelled their flights due to Qatari government restricting entry of Indian nationals into Doha.

Oman Air considering reducing frequencies and operating smaller aircraft after studying passenger loads, said the report quoting a senior airline executive. The airline has witnessed a decline in bookings to its Indian stations over the past few weeks, said the official.

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Besides foreign carriers, domestic airlines having a significant exposure to international routes are considering to reduce their operations, said the report.

Sabina Chopra, Yatra.com co-founder and COO - Corporate Travel & Head Industry Relations, said the latest suspension of visas from all countries to India was expected to have a substantial impact on the foreign tourist arrival in the country which was already witnessing a drop due to the prevailing situation.

"We have received close to 35 percent cancellation queries from travellers planning their trip to foreign destinations," she said adding airfares to affected destinations have dropped by 40 percent.

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Chopra further said, "There has been about 18 percent drop in hotel rates and we are receiving cancellation requests from various travellers who are wary of taking up trips domestically as well."

Air India is further looking to truncate its international flights in light of weak passenger demand, an airline official told the publication. The national carrier has already suspended its flights to Rome and Milan.

Air Tanzania has suspended its flights to Mumbai between March 13 and April 15 citing India’s visa restrictions, it said.