E-Paper
Airline traffic falls by 40% in Asia
Foreign and domestic airlines in tsunami-hit countries, particularly India, are seeing 20-40% cancellations.
Fully booked for yearend holidays, foreign and domestic airlines in tsunami-hit countries, particularly India, are seeing 20-40 per cent cancellations as travellers re-chart plans in the wake of the killer waves.
"There are around 20-40 per cent cancellations reported by airlines for inbound and more for outbound travel at what is absolutely the peak time for destinations in coastal regions," said deputy general manager of marketing communications for Amadeus India, Karun Budhraja.
A leading global distribution system and technology provider for the travel industry, Amadeus tracks 520 airlines globally.
"The cancellations to Langkawi, Malaysia, are around 36 per cent, while those for Thailand are 20-24 per cent and for Sri Lanka about the same. On an average, the cancellations in bookings to and from South East Asian and European destinations are between 20-40 per cent," Budhraja told IANS.
Travel industry sources said the fact that around 400 tourists were missing in Thailand and the chances of tsunami recurring not being ruled out, there is still some fear of travel to beach destinations so soon after Sunday's devastation.
Britain, in fact, has issued an advisory against travelling to the coastal areas of any of the tsunami-hit countries.
"We, however, expect the impact to linger only for a short period as people have short memories of natural disasters. The effect could wear off in around two weeks," said Budhraja.
For the Indian hotel and travel industry, which has been on the upswing this year with over 25 per cent growth, the tsunami has hit at the peak season when people in the northern parts of the country in particular take a break and go to the southern coastal areas to escape the cold wave.
While a number of hotels and tourist resorts in and around Chennai have been damaged or submerged by the floodwaters, there are no reliable estimates of the number of tourists killed or injured. A French man was killed in Pondicherry and two South Africans are missing in Chennai.
