Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines to temporarily reduce flights until May. Credit: Riik@mctr.

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Flag carrier Singapore Airlines has decided to temporarily reduce flight services across its network as the coronavirus (Covid-19) affects passenger traffic.

The announcement follows a reduction in services to mainland China and Hong Kong.

The decrease in flight capacity will affect flights to destinations such as Frankfurt, Jakarta, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, Paris, Seoul, Sydney and Tokyo.

In a statement, the carrier said: “Singapore Airlines and SilkAir will temporarily reduce services across our network due to weak demand as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.

“We will continue to monitor the situation and make further adjustments as necessary.

“Affected customers will be notified and re-accommodated onto other flights. Singapore Airlines and SilkAir apologise for the inconvenience caused.”

Earlier this month, major Asian airlines, including Cathay Pacific and All Nippon Airways, temporarily suspended flights to China due to the outbreak.

The combined Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon traffic figures for January 2020 showed a decrease of 3.8% compared to last year.

In its outlook, Cathay Pacific Group said that “the financial results for
the first half of 2020 will be significantly down on the same period last year”.

Major US airlines such as Delta, American Airlines and United also suspended flights to China.

Last week, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) predicted that Q1 2020 gross operating revenues for airlines globally may drop by $4-$5bn due to Covid-19.

According to the agency, around 70 airlines have cancelled all connecting and international flights to/from mainland China so far.

The death toll due to coronavirus has reached 1,873 as of 17 February. The total number of infected cases increased to more than 73,328.

Singapore reported 77 confirmed cases as of 17 February. It is awaiting the test results of 103 cases, according to the Ministry of Health (MOH).