IndiGo gives profit warning following dip in bookings over Coronavirus

Flight occupancy dropped on domestic routes as individuals and companies canceled events and postponed travel.

IndiGo expects the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis and depreciation of the rupee to hit profit in the fourth quarter. IndiGo, the largest domestic airline by market share, has issued the profit warning following a dip in bookings because of the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

“We cancelled our flights to China and Hong Kong and reduced frequency to certain other Southeast Asian markets. This capacity was redeployed in other markets without having a material impact on our revenues. Over the past few days, however, week-on-week, we have seen a 15-20 per cent decline in our daily bookings. We expect our quarterly earnings to be materially impacted because of these factors,” the airline said in a stock exchange notification on Wednesday.

It added that sharp depreciation in rupee, too, would have an adverse impact on its dollar-denominated liabilities, primarily on account of capitalised operating leases.

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Flight occupancy dropped on domestic routes as individuals and companies canceled events and postponed travel. Last-minute fares, too, have declined 20-25 per cent on key metro routes over a dip in demand. While the plunge in crude oil price benefits the airline, the relief could be limited thanks to sluggish demand.

InterGlobe Aviation, which runs IndiGo, had reported a threefold increase in its pre-tax profit to Rs 556 crore in the third quarter of financial year 2019-20 (FY20) on strong revenue growth. In an investor conference call after the results, it had said modification of its Airbus A320neo engines would be completed by May, but indicated a challenging fourth quarter because of lean season and COVID-19 threat.

All 645 Indians evacuated from Wuhan test negative for coronavirus

Ten other Indians who wanted to return were unable to do so as they could not clear the health screening, the external affairs ministry said.

All 645 people evacuated from China’s Wuhan city, who were lodged at the quarantine facilities set up by the Army and Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) in and around Delhi, have tested negative for coronavirus, the Union health ministry said on Thursday.

It said as of February 6, 138,750 from 1,265 flights had been screened for the nCoV illness but no new case has been detected. India has reported three confirmed cases from Kerala. Ten other Indians who wanted to return were unable to do so as they could not clear the health screening, the external affairs ministry said. India ‘can look into’ evacuating Pakistanis.

The ministry also said India can consider evacuating Pakistani students from the coronavirus-hit Hubei province “if such a situation arises” and resources are available.

Death toll climbs to 564

The Chinese mainland, so far, has seen 563 deaths because of coronavirus infection, and 28,018 confirmed cases. In addition, Hong Kong has had 22 cases, including one death.

In Japan, 10 more people on a cruise ship off its coast have tested positive for the new coronavirus, local media said, raising the number of infections detected on the boat to 20. Japanese authorities have tested 273 people among the approximately 3,700 passengers and crew on the ship after a man who got off the boat last month in Hong Kong tested positive for the new strain.

Whistle-blower doctor dead

Also, the Chinese doctor, reprimanded by police after warning colleagues about the disease emerging in Wuhan, has died after falling ill, said a person familiar with the matter.

China’s diplomatic protests

Meanwhile, China has lodged diplomatic protests with countries whose airlines have cancelled flights to its cities alleging that they are spreading panic in the wake of deadly coronavirus. Several international airlines, including Air India and IndiGo, have cancelled flights to China over fears of the virus spreading across the world, a move which Beijing described against the WHO guidelines.

Coronavirus: China death toll now at 80; virus spreads to Beijing, Shanghai

The newly identified coronavirus has created alarm because much about it is still unknown, such as how dangerous it is and how easily it spreads between people.

BS : The death toll from China's new coronavirus grew to 80 on Monday as residents of Hubei province, where the disease originated, were banned from entering Hong Kong amid global efforts to halt the rapid spread of the outbreak.

The number of deaths from the flu-like virus in Hubei province climbed from 56 to 76 overnight, health commission officials said, with four deaths elsew here. The total number of confirmed cases in China had risen about 30% to 2,744.

U.S. S&P500 e-mini futures fell more than 1% in Asian trade on Monday on mounting worries the outbreak of the virus could severely disrupt the Chinese economy, an engine of global growth.

Kicking off the Asian trading day, New Zealand shares fell with travel and tourism-related stocks among the worst performers as the speed of the outbreak's spread raised alarm over its future impact on movement.

China's cabinet said it would extend the week-long Lunar New Year holiday by three days to Feb. 2 in a bid to slow the spread of the virus. The Hubei city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, is already under virtual lockdown, with severe restrictions on movement in place in several other Chinese cities.

Beijing has called for transparency in managing the crisis, after public trust was eroded by a cover-up of the spread of SARS, a coronavirus that originated in China and killed nearly 800 people globally in 2002 and 2003.

The newly identified coronavirus has created alarm because much about it is still unknown, such as how dangerous it is and how easily it spreads between people. It can cause pneumonia, which has been deadly in some cases.

The virus, believed to have originated in a seafood market in Wuhan that was illegally selling wildlife, has already spread to cities including Beijing and Shanghai.