Taiwan’s SARS Decision a Blow to Asian Airlines

Singapore Airlines, China Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways, already losing business because of severe acute respiratory syndrome, will be hurt even further by Taiwan’s decision Sunday to halt visas for residents of SARS-affected areas.

Separately, Air India, India’s biggest overseas carrier, suspended 12 pilots Sunday for refusing to fly to countries that have been affected by SARS.

Taiwan’s decision has had reverberations throughout the airline industry in Asia.

The Taipei government said it would not issue visas to visitors from Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Toronto to curb the spread of the disease, which has claimed more than 300 lives and infected more than 4,800 people worldwide. The flu-like virus has been spread by air travelers to many countries.

The areas cited by Taiwan are among the worst hit by the virus.

“It’s like rubbing salt in the wound,” said Lisa Wong, a spokeswoman for 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% of its flights. Singapore Air, which operates 10 flights a week to Taipei, has slashed 20% 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 Ltd. “The outlook for the industry is already very bad.”

China Airlines, based in Taipei, earlier cut its service to Hong Kong to 13 daily flights from 16. Out of Singapore Airlines’ 10 weekly flights to Taipei, four continue to Los Angeles, three to Osaka and three to Tokyo, a spokesman said. The company had pared its schedule to Taipei and suspended flights to Kaohsiung, a city in southern Taiwan, after demand fell when the outbreak began.

Meanwhile, China Eastern Airlines Corp., the nation’s No. 3 carrier, said Sunday that it has reduced its scheduled flights for May by 16% because of SARS. The Shanghai-based airline cut 2,460 flights, which follows a 14% reduction for April. The airline said it is filling only about 45% of seats with paying passengers.

At Air India, the Indian Pilots Guild refused to fly with crew members who had in the last 10 days traveled to countries affected by SARS until the airline issues a health certificate stating crew members were free of the virus.

“Failure to withdraw their demand meant tough action,” Air India spokesman Jitendra Bhargava said. “This is only the first phase of the suspension.”

The union’s action prompted the airline to cancel many scheduled flights. The airline canceled five flights Sunday and rescheduled about 20 others through Bombay, its Web site said.

Roy Paul, India’s aviation secretary and the chairman of the airline, told the union Saturday that its demands “lack justification and were totally unreasonable,”according to the airline’s Web site.

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Bloomberg News was used in compiling this report.