Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, Singapore Airlines Ltd and other carriers, already suffering because of severe acute respiratory syndrome, will be hurt by Taiwan's visa ban for residents of SARS-affected areas.
Taiwan said yesterday it won't issue any visas to visitors from Singapore, China, Hong Kong and Toronto, to curb the spread of the disease, which has claimed at least 293 lives worldwide. The four areas are among the worst-hit by the virus, with China accounting for more than half of the world's cases.
"It's like rubbing salt in the wound," said Lisa Wong, a spokeswoman with Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong's biggest airline. "There are already very few travelers in the region. Any further constraint that will disrupt traveling is bad for us."
Demand for plane tickets and hotel rooms has slumped since the disease began spreading outside of China last month, prompting companies to cancel business trips and tourists to stay away.
Cathay Pacific has responded by trimming 45 percent of its flights and said last week that it may cut its dividend. Singapore Air, which operates 10 flights a week to Taipei, has slashed 20 percent of its capacity.
"The worry now is that more and more countries may follow suit if SARS isn't contained soon," said Pierre Lau, an analyst at Nomura International (HK) Ltd. "The outlook for the industry is already very bad."
The airlines may have to further reduce their schedules, Lau said.
The halt on visas for residents from Hong Kong, Singapore, and Toronto will last for two weeks, Taiwan Premier Yu Shyi-kun told a press conference in Taipei. Yu did not say how long the ban on visitors from China would last.
Cathay Pacific now operates six to seven flights daily to Taipei, after earlier cutting half of its services. EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), Taiwan's second-largest carrier, has cut its service to Hong Kong to five to six times a day and may further combine the flights if necessary, spokesman Nieh Kuo-wei (聶國維) said.
"The visa restrictions will definitely affect airlines' passenger business," said Nieh. "It's hard to quantify because the daily schedule changes every day."
China Airlines Co (
Officials of Singapore Airlines and China Airlines declined to comment immediately on Taiwan's travel restrictions.
"The premier has only just announced this measure, it's hard to evaluate now," said China Airlines spokesman Roger Han (
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