Daily Mail - 05.03.2020

Daily Mail, Thursday, March 5, 2020 QQQ Page 

Hong Kong dog catches

illness ‘from its owner’

The airline industry was in

turmoil last night as Flybe

teetered on the brink of

collapse and others warned

of plunging demand amid

the coronavirus crisis.

An incredible image posted

on social media yesterday

showed a near-empty British

Airways flight from London

to the virus-hit city of Milan.

Flybe was poised to go into

administration as it cancelled

flights due to plunging demand

because of coronavirus.

Some 2,000 jobs would be lost

as a result of closure.

A Glasgow to Birmingham

flight was diverted to Manches-

ter last night as pictures on

social media appeared to show a

Flybe plane impounded at Glas-

gow airport.

The embattled airline was

reportedly waiting for its last

scheduled flight to land before

announcing it would cease oper-

ating. A source told the BBC:

‘The game is up.’

Peter Smith, an ITV journalist,

tweeted: ‘has Flybe just ceased

operating in front of my eyes?

‘Waiting to board a Flybe flight

to Birmingham and all of their

flights have just been cancelled.’

The future of Flybe – Britain’s

biggest regional airline, which

carries eight million passengers

a year – has been hanging in the

balance over an £106 million bill

for unpaid air passenger duty.

Bosses were thrown a lifeline

in January after the Government

agreed to defer the payment,

and had been hoping to secure a

£ 100 million state loan to keep

the airline afloat for longer. But

it emerged yesterday that minis-

ters are set to reject the crucial

bid for funding.

Flybe serves almost 200 UK

destinations and is the main air-

line serving smaller regional

hubs. Many of these airports

face being cut off by Flybe’s col-

lapse, which could tarnish the

Government’s hopes of improv-

ing regional transport links.

Figures from the International

Air Transport Association yes-

terday showed that airlines had

suffered their worst month in a

decade because of the outbreak.

The group’s chief economist

Brian Pearce said airlines were

now in ‘a crisis zone’, with pas-

senger numbers at their lowest

rate since the Icelandic volcanic

ash cloud disaster of April 2010.

Association director-general

Alexandre de Juniac said he

feared the decline was ‘just the

tip of the iceberg’.

The photo of the BA flight yes-

terday came as Boris Johnson

agreed to investigate a claim by

Tory MP Paul Maynard that air-

lines were flying near- empty

planes for fear of losing prized

take-off ‘slots’.

In recent days, BA, Virgin Atlan-

tic, Ryanair and easyJet have

cancelled more than 1,000 flights

across europe, the US and Asia.

Many passengers are shunning

flights for fear of catching the

virus, or being stranded abroad.

Industry insiders say the easter

holidays will be the big test of

families’ willingness to travel.

Flybe declined to comment. A

D e p a r t m e n t f o r Tr a n s p o r t

spokesman said: ‘We do not

comment on speculation.’

THE pet dog of a Hong Kong

patient has tested positive –

and is thought to have caught

the virus from its owner.

T h e p o m e ra n i a n , w h i c h

belongs to a woman of 6O, has

a ‘low level of infection,’ offi-

cials in the city said yesterday.

They said experts from uni-

versities and the World Organi-

sation for Animal Health had

unanimously agreed it is ‘likely

to be a case of human-to-ani-

mal transmission’. Despite test-

ing positive, the pomeranian

has not shown any symptoms.

All pets of Hong Kong virus vic-

tims will be quarantined for two

weeks, beginning tomorrow.

The former British territory has

recorded 102 human cases,

with two deaths last month.

By Tom Payne

Transport Correspondent

This is no

time for

a movie,

Mr Bond

Fear of flying: A

near-empty BA

flight from London

to Milan yesterday

Later showing: Daniel Craig with No

Time To Die co-star Ana de Armas

THE release of the latest James Bond
film, No Time To Die, has been pushed
back by seven months because of
coronavirus.
Due for release in the UK on April
2, the film, starring Daniel Craig, Ana
de Armas and Rami Malek, will now
not appear until November 12.
Bond producers Michael G Wilson
and Barbara Broccoli have said that
they made the last-minute decision
‘after careful consideration and
thorough evaluation of the global
theatrical marketplace’.
The move is expected to cost pro-
ducers millions as they work to
negotiate new deals with advertis-

ers and sponsors. Cast and crew

were scheduled to undertake a glo-

bal press tour and premieres. Some

feared being trapped overseas

because of quarantine measures.

The London premiere was sched-

uled to take place at the Royal

Albert Hall on March 31.

November is traditionally the

release month for Bond films but

the latest was pushed back due to a

change of director, and on-set mis-

haps and creative differences.

By Baz Bamigboye

and Jennifer Ruby

Flybe close to

collapse amid

corona chaos

...as airlines warn of

plummeting demand