Daily Times

Wizz Air is making plans to fly jets only two-thirds full to allow more space between passengers, it said on Tuesday, as airlines voiced concerns that anti-coronavirus measures could blight their profitability long after travel restrictions end.

Wizz Chief Executive Jozsef Varadi and the head of global airline trade body IATA both said single-aisle planes may be required to leave the middle seats on each side vacant to allow a degree of “social distancing” aboard.

“We would basically be blocking a third of the airplanes,” Varadi told Reuters in a telephone interview. “A 180-seater would become a 120-seater.”

Beyond the open-ended lockdowns and travel bans that have brought air travel to a near-halt, deep uncertainty remains over the pace of an eventual recovery and the potential for lasting restrictions that could pile up yet more losses.

Raising its coronavirus impact forecast to $314 billion, IATA described “worrisome” signs of governments “doubling down on international travel restrictions” even when lifting lockdowns – citing developments in China and South Korea.

Alexandre de Juniac, the Geneva-based organisation’s CEO, said leaving the middle seat vacant was among likely conditions for a resumption of air travel to be discussed with governments in a series of coordinated meetings around the world. Operating aircraft with more seats has been a “key element of profitability for airlines”, which typically break even above 75% seat occupancy, De Juniac said. Taking out one-third of passengers would be a “reshuffle of the business model,” he added. “It changes the way they operate short-haul aircraft completely.”

The effect could be felt more keenly by low-cost carriers, which typically operate at higher load factors – the proportion of seats filled, weighted for distance flown.

But stronger balance sheets and labour flexibility could make Wizz Air, Ryanair and easyJet better able to withstand virus-related losses than older peers Lufthansa and Air France-KLM.