Singapore Airlines announced on Monday morning it will cut 96 per cent of its capacity until the end of April.
This will result in the grounding of 138 SIA and SilkAir aircraft out of the total fleet of 147. Low-cost subsidiary Scoot will also ground 47 of its 49 aircraft.
The group described the coronavirus crisis as “the greatest challenge that the SIA Group has faced in its existence”.
Other major announcements over the last 48 hours include:
- Emirates has dramatically reversed its decision to suspend all of its passenger operations by 25 March, in order to help repatriation of passengers. The airline said in a statement, “Having receiving requests from governments and customers to support the repatriation of travellers, Emirates will continue to operate passenger and cargo flights to the following countries until further notice, as long as borders remain open, and there is demand: the UK, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Japan, Singapore, Australia, South Africa, US, and Canada.”
- United has cut all long-haul international flights. It will complete the majority of its trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific journeys by the end of the month. The business has stated it will do all it can to get stranded Americans home.
- Wizz Air will suspend flights to Georgia and Albania.
- Qatar Airways will slash overall capacity by 75 per cent.
- Fiji Airways will suspend 95 per cent of its international flights. Chief executive Andre Viljoen, said in a statement, “This is by far the most drastic move in our airline’s proud 68-year history. They are, however, necessary measures to navigate through this crisis.” The business indicated that it will continue to try and help repatriate citizens stranded abroad.
- Koran Air will now fly to only 21 international destinations.
