Govt to consider relief for domestic airlines industry amid coronavirus outbreak

The government will consider providing relief to the airlines industry, which is grappling with the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, and discussions are going on between domestic airlines and the civil aviation ministry.

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday said airlines are quite clear on what they want and that there are many things "we can do to provide relief".

He was responding to a query on whether the government would be extending any relief in the short-term to the domestic airlines industry.

"Governments world over understand what the situation is... the government will consider this," he said, adding that conversations have already started.

"Some airlines (representatives) have already met the (civil aviation) secretary... we are fully conscious of this," he noted.

Specific details could not be immediately ascertained.

On Thursday, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) projected that the airline industry could lose up to USD 113 billion in revenue this year due to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

The grouping's previous analysis, issued in February, put the lost revenues at USD 29.3 billion. This was based on a scenario where the impact of Covid-19 was largely confined to markets associated with China.

Since then, the coronavirus has spread to over 80 countries and forward bookings have been severely impacted on routes beyond China, IATA had said.