Industry News: Lufthansa Group Grounds 13 Aircraft Over Coronavirus Cancellations

Lufthansa rival Air France-KLM said on Thursday it expected the coronavirus outbreak to wipe 150 million to 200 million euros ($162-216 million) off earnings by April.

German airline group Lufthansa said on Thursday it had grounded 13 long-haul aircraft after the company cancelled various connections to mainland China due to the coronavirus outbreak there.

"This will have noticeable effects on business," a spokesman said, adding it will communicate details at its news conference on March 19.

The group includes the namesake Lufthansa core brand, Swiss International Air Lines and Austrian Airlines.

Lufthansa rival Air France-KLM said on Thursday it expected the coronavirus outbreak to wipe 150 million to 200 million euros ($162-216 million) off earnings by April, assuming China flights remain suspended until then.

(Reuters)

dre aviation Opinion:

Whilst the world is finding its way through this latest infectious viral outbreak, we cast our minds back to SARS and MERS. If the situation drags on for much longer the industry will really begin to see a significant fall in forward bookings which would be devasting for forward guidance and will no doubt have a massive effect on the bottom line for global carriers.

The knock on effect for industry suppliers; eg. ground handling, fueling and catering companies, to name a few, will also be significant.

The world waits and watches.

Day to day headlines reports and predictions vary wildly on the extent of this outbreak and this is a major concern going forward.

Aviation is a very sensitive business model. It's a global model and a significant slow down in Asian aviation and traffic will knock on across many continents.

IAG will be reporting thier financial results next week, we look forward with interest to see their commentary on the current impact of the virus so far and more so on their forecasted impact going forward.