Indigo shares slumped by almost 16%, andSpiceJet fell 20%.- This came after the new visa restriction implemented by the government on March 11.
Last week, most aviation companies have been allowing travellers to cancel their tickets and also waived off fees. This is an added hit for these companies whose stocks have been taking a beating ever since coronavirus is spreading. For the last few weeks, the government has been urging people to restrict domestic and international travel and has been expanding the list of countries to stay away from.
“We have seen a 15-20% decline in our daily bookings and expect our quarterly earnings to be materially impacted,” Indigo said in a stock exchange filing yesterday. Many countries across the world like Saudi Arabia, Qatar imposed restrictions too, while Kuwait suspended all flights from India.
The stocks of airports too which will lose business will be affected have been going down. While GMR’s stock was down by 12%, GVK’s stock fell by around 5%
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued a revised travel advisory that will put India under lockdown starting March 13. Any travel plans up to April 15 will have to be put on hold as India will suspend all movement along its borders.
As an effect of the restriction all visas — except diplomatic, official, issued by international organisations, employment, project visas — are suspended till April 15 2020. This also restricts visa-free travel facility for
The global death toll of the coronavirus has surged to over 4,000 and the outbreak has spread to over 100 countries. In India, there are 62 reported cases of Covid-19 so far with 17 in Kerala and nine in UP.