reader Posted February 18, 2020 Posted February 18, 2020 From Bloomberg News China’s Aviation Market Shrinks to Smaller Than Portugal’s China’s aviation market, projected to overtake the U.S. this decade and become the world’s biggest, has shrunk to such an extent due to the coronavirus outbreak that it’s fallen from third to 25th, behind Portugal. Airlines have slashed capacity because of the epidemic centered in Hubei province, leaving the industry reeling. About 1.7 million seats -- almost 80% of capacity -- were dropped from China services from Jan. 20 to Feb. 17 by global carriers, according to OAG Aviation Worldwide. Meanwhile, Chinese airlines cut 10.4 million seats domestically. No event that we remember has had such a devastating effect on capacity as coronavirus,” John Grant, senior analyst at OAG, wrote in a report. “In many ways it highlights the importance of the Chinese market to aviation and the rapid globalization of air services as new markets and travelers emerge.” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-18/china-s-aviation-market-shrinks-to-smaller-than-portugal Quote
