Airline bosses worry about the impact of Omicron variant DUBAI LONDON Reuters Airline bosses expressed concern on Tuesday that travel restrictions linked to the emergence of the Omicron variant of the coronaviruses could blow an industry recovery off course.
The biggest warning came from Emirates airline President Tim Clark, who said that a major hit to the peak December travel season would cause significant traumas to the global aviation business.
The resurgence of the disease in parts of continental Europe has prompted customers to rethink city break plans, as the British budget airline easyJet spoke of a softening of demand in recent weeks.
The discovery of the Omicron variant, first reported in southern African last week, gave a blow to the industry just as it had recovery in its sights, especially after the easing of U.S. bound travel https: www.reuters. com world us international-travellers-flights - re-open - 2021 -- 11 -- 08 earlier in November.
The travel restrictions have been imposed in several countries, including Japan, the United States, Britain and Israel in order to slow the spread of the new variant, which is believed to be more resistant to vaccines.
Clark said that the run-up to the Christmas and New Year holiday season would be critical for the airline industry as scientists assess the risks.
December is a very important month for the air travel business, he said. If that is lost, or the winter is lost to a lot of carriers, there will be significant traumas in the business, certainly the aviation business and the periphery. Travel restrictions were a big factor in the financial results released on Tuesday by easyJet and Scandinavian operator SAS.
EasyJet reported a headline loss of 1.14 billion pounds $1.5 billion for the year to the end of September, at the higher end of forecasts, while SAS remained in the red in the August to October quarter.
EasyJet said it was difficult to gauge the effects of the new variant, but that there were still concerns over the coronaviruses that were still influencing travellers.
EasyJet Chief Executive Johan Lundgren said that there was an impact on the short-term departures, but it is not the same level of impact and drop-off we've seen in previous times when restrictions have been introduced.
Both easyJet and SAS noted that there was a strong appetite for travel when curbs were removed.
We remain cautious due to the uncertainties but see that demand is healthy once restrictions are lifted, both for business and leisure travel, according to SAS.