TAP PORTUGAL LATEST CARRIER TO ANNOUNCE ROUTE CUTS

Several global airlines are announcing major reductions in capacity due to slowing demand due to coronavirus fears.

Today, TAP Portugal follows the lead of some other carriers - such as British Airways, Emirates and United - saying it is reducing capacity by 4% in March and 6% in April. The cuts represent a total of around 1000 flights.

The industry-wide cuts come as the International Air Transport Association (IATA) drastically revised the projected losses from passenger revenue to up to $113-billion, up from an estimate for a $30 billion loss made just two weeks ago.

With business and leisure travelers cancelling reservations in massive numbers - or deferring travel all together - airlines are taking an especially big hit, even with the fall in price in oil, said My Savvy Traveller founder and global affairs analyst Michael Bociurkiw. “It’s a blood bath out there.”

“It’s a bloodbath out there in the aviation industry - global affairs analyst Michael Bociurkiw ”

The TAP cancellations focus especially on operations for cities in the most affected regions, especially Italy, but also include the reduction of supply in other European markets that show greater drops in demand, such as Spain or France. Cuts will also include some intercontinental flights, given the model of operation of TAP, as a long-haul and connection airline.

TAP also announced the suspension of all non-critical investments, the review and cut of non-essential expenses for the business or the suspension of hiring and new admissions, in addition to adapting supply to demand.

Separately, Lufthansa said it has canceled 7,100 European flights for March, mostly within Germany or on routes to Italy, accounting for about 25% of its total capacity.

Bociurkiw said because of the massive wave of change and cancellation requests coming in, airline call centers are being overwhelmed. He cited hold waits of up to 90 minutes for TAP and several hours for Air Canada.