Korean Air has closed reservations for its seasonal flights between Seoul and Zagreb until late April. The carrier, which was due to reintroduce three weekly services between the two capital cities on March 31, has now pushed back the route’s resumption until April 25. It comes as South Korea has been battling with the largest outbreak of the new coronavirus outside China. Croatia, which itself reported its first case of the virus yesterday, has introduced monitoring for visitors coming from South Korea. The airline has suspended ticket sales on the route until April 25, with scheduled flights between the two cities being displayed as “unavailable” until then. Alternatives to the Croatian capital are offered via other points in Europe, including Zurich and Frankfurt, in cooperation with Croatia Airlines.
Iranian carrier Mahan Air, which was due to resume two weekly seasonal operations between Tehran and Belgrade from April 26, has also discontinued bookings on the route until further notice. Services, which were to operate with the Airbus A310 aircraft, are now being displayed as “full” along with several other of the airline’s international destinations. A number of carriers have halted flights to Iran. The country is one of three hotspots outside China causing concern that the virus could be becoming a pandemic. More people have died in Iran from the virus than anywhere else outside China.
At this point, it is unclear whether the two airlines will reverse their decisions in the weeks to come as the virus situation evolves. With increased cases of the coronavirus being reported in countries near and far from China, numerous routes around the world are being cut due to a mix of low demand and government mandates restricting travel to certain regions. Airlines stand to lose over thirty billion US dollars in revenue this year due to the outbreak. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) predicts demand for air travel will fall for the first time in more than a decade. Airlines in China and other parts of the Asia Pacific region are expected to take the vast majority of the impact.
Unfortunate
ReplyDeleteNah, they will cancel those flights until end of April because of low booking, not because of the virus. If the virus is a reason, than all korean airlines will stop flying anywhere in the world since Korea is 2nd country in the world by this stupid virus. So, what is the logic that you fly to Zurich, Frankfurt, etc. but no to Zagreb? Corona would love to go to ZAG so they stopped it on this way? But corona don't want to go to Zurich so they can fly to ZRH? what the....??
DeleteSure. Nice that you concocted that entire story. That's why they have increased capacity on this route - because of low bookings. The logic.Have you thought that perhaps this route is tourist-heavy and these tourists have to be quarantined for 14 days upon arrival so who wants to go on a holiday like that? Also Korean Air has cancelled many flights not just Zagreb.
Delete@10.52 must be the same for Mahan Air to Belgrade then.
DeleteAnon 10 46 that is not true. People with syptoms should stay in quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in Croatia, all other are free to go where they want. So your theory is wrong. And yes, booking is horrible.
DeleteAnd can you provide us with a source to show that "bookings are horrible".
DeleteHis source is jealousy.
DeleteYeah bcs booking is published just like that. U can believe it or not. ZRH will start earlier, also popular for turist, but ZAG won't and booking is Main reason so KE is using corona as a excuse.
DeleteTroll.
DeleteI currently in quarantine as I just have come back from Lombardy in Italy
DeleteA bit of an overreaction considering these flights are not due in a month or two.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteSituation is developing so there may be changes to these decisions.
DeleteOlympics are close to being cancelled and you think postponing those flights is an overreaction? Impact is more serious than most people can imagine.
DeleteI don't know where you read that the Olympics are close to being cancelled. In fact the committee said they won't even discuss this until the end of May by which time this could be over.
Deletehttps://www.b92.net/sport/olimpizam/vesti.php?yyyy=2020&mm=02&dd=26&nav_id=1659204
DeleteYes and it says exactly what I said, that they will consider their prospects at the end of May, which is more than two months away. Tabloid headlines are different story.
Deleteb92 ...
DeleteI borderline understand flights nit operating to China but what are countries planning to do? Halt all travel?
ReplyDeleteKuwait seems to think so. They have suspended flights to over 10 countries.
DeleteEmirates has also discontinued all flights to Iran after coronavirus infected patient arrived to Bahrain through Dubai onboard an EK flight.
DeleteIran is experiencing a massive outbreak of coronavirus, even deputy minister of health is sick. Turkey has closed their border with Iran and so has Kuwait. I think Mahan's termination of BEG has more to do with the situation in Iran than in China itself.
We will see if new Kuwait-Sarajevo flights by Kuwait Airways are also affected.
Delete^^ Those flights don't start until June!!
DeleteThe BEG-IKA route was never lucky. Everytime there were plans to sustain or launch the route, something happens. Unbelievable!
ReplyDeleteBy 26th April this virus could be gone. I think they overreacted.
DeleteWell it does say, "At this point, it is unclear whether the two airlines will reverse their decisions in the weeks to come as the virus situations evolves." So if the situation improves these flights might return earlier.
DeleteOver by 26.04 - said my Cristal ball
DeleteThis will have a huge impact on aviation industry, just like last year this period of time the MAX issues, it's such unfortunate for the airlines that have been effected by those two cases. I hope they can survive.
ReplyDeleteThis is true, and it is having a wider impact than just Asian airlines. Lufthansa just announced cost cutting measures, unpaid leave for staff, hiring freeze and so on.
DeleteJust saw - https://newsroom.lufthansagroup.com/English/Newsroom/coronavirus--lufthansa-adopts-a-package-of-measures/s/d80648b4-0f7e-4b3a-89fa-4ef85a218656
DeleteYikes
It's not all that bad. They expanding flights to Canada through Eurowings and have just announced a new route.
DeleteI think mid-east flights (capacity) to ex-Yu markets will be affected quite a lot.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what impact this will have on passenger numbers at both airports. I'm not talking about these two routes only but lower demand for travel to the east in general.
ReplyDeleteYes, all Korean Air flights to/from ZAG unavailable for booking in any class until 25th April :( even though flights are still displayed in the schedule you can't buy any tickets.
ReplyDeleteSame with Mahan Air to BEG. Flights in the system but displaying as "full" which isn't the case. They've done the same with most of their other flights too.
DeleteAnyone know if JU crew on flights to Italy wear masks? After all they have the biggest network out of ex-YU and are the most exposed to what's going on there. Italy seems totally incompetent in tackling this nasty virus which has already taken so many innocent lives.
ReplyDeleteNo they don't, Neither do crew from other airlines flying to Italy.
DeleteWhy aren't they? Isn't JU being reckless towards its employees?
DeleteThen same goes for BA, LH, OS and the 100 other airlines flying to Italy.
DeleteMeanwhile Emirates keeps flying to Beijing.
DeleteMoney is Emirates' priority.
DeleteI will never fly Emirates ever again.
So did Turkish up until today. They continued flying to all of their destinations in China and only cancelled their flights today
DeleteYes they do, Cabin Call was issued yesterday mandating JU crew to wear masks and protective gloves on all flights to Italy
DeleteFeel sorry for those EK and TK crew that have to (had to) fly to China.
DeleteBoth EK and TK are acting in line with World Health Organization recommendations which say that international travel should not be restricted by this outbreak.
DeleteWhat the hell?
DeleteTurkish stopped flying to China at the beginning of February (4 destinations, 28 weekly), and stopped flying to Iran (5 destinations, 40 weekly) yesterday!
Get your facts right.
@Anon 10:19, @Anon 10:39
I have a feeling this will fizzle out sooner rather than later. But the impact on the industry will be significant.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope so. Not looking that way at the moment.
DeleteConsidering a Korean Air crew member tested positive to the virus its normal that these flights have been delayed.
ReplyDeleteI don't get why they didn't cut them to other cities too
DeleteThey have cut frequencies, capacity and complete flights on a lot of routes.
DeleteAre they going ahead with BUD flights?
DeleteThose flights don't start until the end of May. I think they only made operational changes to routes in March so far.
Delete@9.27
DeleteThey have. But this route is mostly used by Korean tourists.
https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/289914/korean-air-march-2020-europe-russia-service-changes-as-of-26feb20/
DeleteBesides they almost cut all flight to China and the region.
This could have an impact on Air Serbia's expansion too. They plan six new routes.
ReplyDeleteExpansion is in June. So in 3 months.
DeleteYes and none of them are in a market where an official pandemic has been announced.
DeleteBut with all the frequency increases you have to wonder whether demand to travel to Beirut is the same now as it was in the past before this virus.
DeleteAll airlines will experience an impact in demand. Absolutely no airline is immune to this.
DeleteThat is true. For example I notice Qatar Airways has reduced capacity to BEG for most of March to A320 instead of A321.
DeleteMakes sense. No more groups to Asia.
DeleteAviation industry can't catch a break lately.
ReplyDeleteDark times. Situation in industry is much worse then SARS.
DeleteHope the situation normalizes soon.
ReplyDeleteIronically at the end of last week, capacity was starting to return to normal. Some airlines were even planning to resume China flights. And then the mess in South Korea and Italy erupted.
ReplyDeleteThis whole situation has been blown out of proportion so much. If the media reported every new case of the common cold and every death from the common cold, people would probably be committing suicide out of fear of catching it.
ReplyDeleteI agree. The media have played a huge role in spreading mass hysteria.
DeleteKind of sad. I flew Abu Dhabi - Belgrade with Etihad over the weekend. Flight was quite full, maybe around 6 seats empty. There was a group of Chinese (all with masks) and one passenger sitting next to them was visibly uncomfortable sitting there and he started talking to the crew about it and how he wanted to change seats. I must say the crew handled it very well. They came over to the passenger and told him that the seat next to his friend was available if he wanted to move.
ReplyDeleteWell at least the good news is the flight was full.
DeleteSo we will have to wait a month longer until we see those beautiful Dreamliners.
ReplyDeleteBetter to be safe then sorry.
DeleteWith the creative accounting mechanisms of ex-Yu airlines, I'm sure all will register record profit in 2020.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the EU will be very lenient with state intervention when it comes to the aviation industry this year. Their airlines are suffering much more than those from this region.
DeleteThis will have a much wider impact then just a few cancelled flights. If this goes on for another month I think the whole year will go down the drain. Passenger numbers at our airports will go down, tourism season will be affected in Croatia and Montenegro, I also wonder how Croatia Airlines privatization may be affected. Will an airline be willing to invest at such uncertain times. Lots to think about.
ReplyDeleteTrue. Impact of there being no Chinese tourists is already huge.
DeleteNow Korean too :(
DeleteIf things don't improve I particularly wonder what will be the impact on Croatian coastal airports, particularly Dubrovnik which relies on a lot of tourists from Asia and has airlines such as Turkish, Flydubai and soon Qatar Airways operating there.
DeleteIt sure will have an impact on everyone. Yesterday we read OU CEO saying that they have seen lower bookings in March. The same must be true for JU and YM.
ReplyDeleteFor sure. No one is immune in such an interconnected world.
DeleteYM already feels the decline of bookings on a flights from Moscow. Their flights were the shortest connection from China-perfect timing, although Aeroflot is the largest carrier of Chinese people to Montenegro-on daily basis.
DeleteJU crew started wearing masks and gloves since yesterday to all flights to Italy...
ReplyDeleteSo what's the solution? End all air travel across the world? I don't think these travel bans help much at all.
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree. And countries have completely direspected obligations they made after SARS. In 2005, after the SARS epidemic, WHO member states adopted a revised International Health Regulations, which governs how countries prepare for and respond to outbreaks. The purpose of the framework was to “avoid unnecessary interference with international traffic and trade” by empowering WHO to make recommendations about whether restrictions are necessary. Countries committed not to impose “more restrictive” measures than WHO recommends (without providing scientific justification). WHO said the restrictions and bans were unwarranted. No one listened.
DeleteInteresting
DeleteWhat a year for the aviation industry and its only February! Ukraine Air plane being shot down, airlines having to avoid Iranian airspace, Coronavirus....
ReplyDeleteAdria recognized the oncoming problems and issues and left the party on time. Visionary leadership.
DeleteLOL
DeleteHahaha :)
DeleteLet's see how this will affect Qatar Airways, Emirates, Flydubai and Etihad Airways on their flights to ex-Yu countries. They depend a lot on Asian traffic.
ReplyDeleteLike someone said above, QR has reduced capacity on Belgrade flights for most of March from A321 to A320.
DeleteIt probably isn't the only change happening.
DeleteHope both come back with even more flights :)
ReplyDeleteIt will be very interesting to see passenger numbers at European airports in February. I think many will be in the red.
ReplyDeleteIt won't be good.
DeleteI don't think ex-Yu airports will be affected much.
DeleteAt least not in February I mean.
DeleteGood. We don't need virus to spread even more.
ReplyDeletethink now it is good time to fly on ID discount tickets :)
ReplyDeleteThe situation in Italy could have a negative impact on Air Serbia numbers if we consider that JU is the only one that has a notable presence on their market (out of ex-Yu airlines). A lot of people have cancelled flights. Tour groups have cancelled travel to Italy for 8th of March. Air Serbia flies to Rome, Milan, Venice, Bologna and soon Florence. It also has a lot of charters to Italy.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it will have a major impact, but we'll see.
DeleteGood luck finding tickets to Asia in the second half of the year. Most people that had purchased tickets have rescheduled for later on in 2020. Thus will surely be over by then.
ReplyDeleteMahan is not a big loss even though I think they will relaunch the flights eventually. These flights are 100% used by Iranians. No other passengers.
ReplyDeleteCharter of Yu-ara to Genova is cancelled. Also some of packeges on AS regular routes. AS decided not to make any penalties to touroperators ( for Rome i know for sure)
ReplyDeleteThe flu season ends usually in May, so everything should go back to normal before summer.
ReplyDeleteCoronavirus is NOT common flu. Problem with this virus is death rate. Current flu strain has death rate of 0.1% (almost strictly affecting older and very young with compromised immune system). Coronavirus has a death rate of close to 3% and while also affecting those with compromised immune system, older and children, death rate is too high for comfort. Second, incubation period is almost 3 weeks. Virus is spreading before carrier has symptoms and that is extremely complex to contain. In the US, in California, one person was tested positive that did not travel anywhere, living in rural Central Valley area. That means that virus is already spreading like common flu, except it is not common flu. Based on what CDC and other health agencies around the world are saying, forget these lines this year. Actually, I would not be surprised if economy goes in such recession that these connections are affected for several years. I think that China did huge disservice to the world by focusing on containing flow of information instead of focusing on containment of virus. World probably lost month to month and a half in reaction time due to behavior of Chinese. Trump administration is not helping (if someone wonders why he bankrupted 6 times, here is opportunity to watch his skills in real time). Fortunately in the US decentralization of institutions makes censure of information impossible, but it is not good situation. We will see how Europe reacts to this, but if I had money in tourism, I would hope for the best, but get ready for the worst.
ReplyDelete