Fears of massive bankruptcies and calls for emergency bailouts swept global airlines Tuesday as a top US official warned the coronavirus crisis threatens the industry even more than the September 11 attacks, which saw US airspace shut down entirely. I
And airlines warned that vital air cargo could be impacted by the shutdown of 185,000 passenger flights around the world. In Australia, Qantas slashed international capacity by 90 percent early Tuesday, as the government required that anyone arriving from abroad needs to isolate themselves for 14 days to be sure they are not carrying the virus.
"The government is actively discussing how to support airlines," said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.Brian Pearce, economist of IATA, said their early March estimate of $113 billion in losses to the global industry now looks very low.