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By Laurence Frost and Sarah Young
BRUSSELS, March 3 (Reuters) - European airlines warned on
Tuesday the worst is still to come in economic damage to the
industry from the rapid spread of coronavirus Covid-19.
They also called for a relaxation of airport regulations
under which airlines can lose lucrative landing and take-off
slots if they cancel flights for a prolonged period.
"We request that a temporary waiver be granted by all (EU)
member states,” Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith said
ahead of an annual conference of the Brussels-based lobbying
group.
Airlines also want a “common set of health requirements for
travel to and from the affected regions”, he said.
Airlines worldwide have been suspending flights or modifying
services in response to the coronavirus outbreak, which has now
claimed more than 3,000 lives and infected more than 90,000
people globally, after spreading from China to 77 other
countries and territories.
Willie Walsh, chief executive of British Airways owner IAG
, noted a "very significant fall-off in demand" in
Italian markets in the past week, but predicted demand would
stabilise in coming weeks if it follows a pattern seen in Asia.
The coronavirus, which emerged in the central Chinese city
of Wuhan late last year, has spread rapidly around the world
over the past week, with more new cases now appearing outside
China than within. Italy has seen the biggest outbreak in Europe
so far.
The crisis, which has led to a quarter of the short-haul
fleet of airlines like Lufthansa being grounded, comes
on top of a list of pressures on the European airline industry.
Executives at the Brussels gathering listed other grievances
including the failure to reform air traffic control networks
under the delayed EU Single European Sky initiative.
"It is a scandal that we are still flying the skies today in
the same way we were 40 years ago," Walsh said.
Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary hit out at
fresh passenger taxes as "the equivalent of latter-day
highwaymen".
(Reporting by Laurence Frost, Sarah Young, Editing by Tim
Hepher and Mark Potter)