The impact of the Coronavirus scare was felt more by the aviation stocks. Interglobe Aviation stock was down 3 percent, SpiceJet was also hit very hard and was down 6 percent at one point in time.

The Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told CNBC-TV18 that they have issued a travel advisory to countries with known cases. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have also issued stringent guidelines for airlines and airports to prevent the Coronavirus spread.

They say that aircrafts from South Korea, Japan, and Italy must be disinfected on landing. This would put further pressure on the industry and of course demand too has been low as well. They are going to ensure that all the airline crew and the staff knows correct usage, disposal and procedure of equipment.

Apart from that a lot of travel companies have reported that there has been a big decline in demand for tickets for travel etc. Yatra.com said that they anticipate a drop of about 20-25 percent in future bookings for South East Asia and Italy. They say travellers at this point are wary of making fresh bookings to affected locations and air fares to affected destinations have dropped by 20-30 percent already. They have already received about 35 percent of cancellation queries from travellers planning their trips to foreign locations, especially to locations like Europe.

It is just the start but it seems like the next two quarters are going to be tough for the aviation industry.

First Published:Mar 4, 2020 3:02 PM IST