Travel agencies have recorded about 50 per cent drop in sale of ticket and reservations on international routes since the outbreak of COVID-19.

The President, National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies, Mr Bankole Bernard, told our correspondent that the drop in sales rose from less than 20 per cent to 50 per cent in the last few days when the virus spread to more countries and the United States placed a ban on flights from about 26 European countries.

According to him, Nigeria’s aviation industry is not operating in isolation; and like other countries, the effect is being felt especially by service providers.

Bernard said, “Right now, the US is a no-go area; Italy and many other countries have been shut down and South Africa’s coronavirus cases are growing rapidly.

“Drop in sales is now at 50 per cent; airlines are cancelling flights to affected areas, and when there are no bookings, airlines cannot fly empty planes. Only few airlines with deep pockets are surviving this period.”

Bernard stated that according to the International Air Transport Association’s forecast, the earliest time for airlines and other services providers in the industry to begin to recover would be June.

He said members of NANTA had been advised to focus on bookings and reservations within Africa to stay afloat.

IATA in its analysis of the financial impact of the novel coronavirus last week said there would be global revenue losses for the passenger business of between $63bn in a scenario where COVID-19 is contained and $113bn in a scenario with a broader spread.

The association said since February, the virus had spread globally and forward bookings had been severely impacted on routes beyond China.

Aviation analyst, Olumide Ohunayo, said with the recent decision of the American government to stop flights from some European countries, there would be little or no effect on domestic operations but that travel agencies and passengers would be severely affected.

“We expect some losses to come to our travel agencies and service providers because the airlines will cut frequencies and downgrade equipment into Nigeria. With the ban, frequencies to Africa will be reduced,” he said.

He stated that Nigerian passengers’ choices of flying to America would also be limited to direct flights to the US or through the Middle East or a few African countries, which might increase costs.