(Adds additional details, quote on coronavirus hit)
Feb 27 (Reuters) - Aviation services group John Menzies
said on Thursday it would take a hit of between 6
million and 9 million pounds ($7.8 million-$11.7 million) from
the coronavirus outbreak, assuming the impact of the virus
subsides towards the end of the second quarter.
Menzies, which offers ground handling, fuelling and cargo
handling services for airlines, said the biggest disruption
would be seen at its operations in Macau, where the company
handles Chinese carriers.
"The situation is still evolving, and we only have limited
visibility of what flight schedules are being impacted into
March and beyond, so it is difficult to assess how extensive the
impact could be at this point," the company said.
John Menzies, which has already been hurt by the fallout
from the global grounding of Boeing Co's 737 MAX jets,
said "mitigation actions" are in place, and it was trying to
control costs and expenses.
Airlines have suspended thousands of flights because of the
outbreak, and governments ramped up measures on Thursday to
battle a global pandemic of the coronavirus as the number of
infections outside China for the first time surpassed those
appearing inside the country.
British travel-food company SSP warned of a 50%
fall in February sales across the Asia Pacific region on
Wednesday, as the outbreak drove a collapse in domestic and
international air travel.
($1 = 0.77 pounds)
(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by
Patrick Graham and Bernard Orr)