A fortnight ago Qantas warned COVID-19 would cost it up to $150 million and reduced its flying into Asia by 15 per cent,flights to New Zealand by 6 per cent and domestic capacity by 2 per cent.
The world's peak airline industry body overnight said the coronavirus would costcarriers $US131 billion ($170 billion) in lost revenue this year - three times as much as it predicted two weeks ago.
"In little over two months,the industry's prospects in much of the world have taken a dramatic turn for the worse,"said Alexandre de Juniac,president of the trade group,the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The rapid shift in fortune is"almost without precedent,"he said.
The turn of events as a result of COVID-19 is almost without precedent.
IATA president Alexandre de Juniac
IATA expects global air traffic to decline this year for the first time since the global financial crisis.