Coronavirus outbreak may cause $3 bln revenue loss for airports

Mumbai: Prolonged duration of the coronavirus outbreak could result in a revenue loss of USD 3 billion for airports in the Asia Pacific region, a global airports’ grouping said on Monday.

Airports Council International (ACI) Asia Pacific also urged regulators and governments to implement well-defined adjustments and relief measures tailored to suit local-level contexts.

Asia-Pacific is suffering the highest impact, with passenger traffic volumes down by 24 per cent for the first quarter of the current year, compared to projected traffic levels without COVID-19, as per ACI World estimates.

Citing the ACI World Airport Traffic Forecasts for 2019-2040 predicted that USD 12.4 billion revenue for the first quarter in the Asia-Pacific region in the “business as usual” scenario, the ACI-APAC said in a release.

“The impact of COVID-19 is projected to have a revenue loss of USD 3 billion,” it said.

Within the Asia-Pacific region, mainland China, Hong Kong SAR and the Republic of Korea remain at the centre of the effects with sizeable losses in traffic volumes, it added.

Meanwhile, there is a sharp spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in several countries in the Middle East, expecting to significantly impact traffic downwards by a negative 4.2 per cent as travellers and airlines adjust their plans and seat offers in the coming days and weeks, it added.

Against this gloomy background of sharp declines in traffic and passenger throughput, airports’ aeronautical revenues and non-aeronautical revenues are rendering similar declines, the ACI-APAC said in the release.

ACI is a grouping of airports. It serves 668 members, operating 1,979 airports in 176 countries.