Qatar Airways will grow destinations from 52 in May to 80 in June. Korean Air will increase international routes from 13 in May to 32 in June, growing weekly international flights from 55 to 146.
Turkish Airlines is most optimistic. It is making provisions to resume flights in June, according to a plan seen by Anadolu Agency. Unlike many airlines, Turkish completely stopped all passenger flights, a ban currently in place through May 28.
Turkish tentatively expects to have 75 weekly international flights in June across 22 destinations. That will grow to 103 destinations and 572 flights in July, and then 160 destinations and 937 flights in August.
Turkish is best known for international connections, like Qatar Airways and other Gulf carriers. But Turkish has a sizeable domestic market, where it will first resume flights. Global expectations widely expect domestic travel to rebound earlier and stronger than international travel.
Turkish’s draft plan calls for it to operate 60% of domestic flights in June. China Eastern expects to operate 70-80% of domestic flights by the end of June following China aggressively bringing the virus under control. Korea has a much smaller domestic network and relies on international travel. That makes it dependent on a patchwork of entry restrictions being lifted.
Even with the planned increases in June, the schedule represents 20% of Korean Air’s pre-virus plan. Qatar Airways told staff it will be a smaller airline in the future and will have to cut jobs.
Korean Air carries many transfer passengers using Seoul Incheon as a hub between other countries. Korean, Turkish and Qatar need governments to be comfortable with the large number of different nationalities they may inevitably fly.
In a hypothetical scenario, Country A may not allow travellers from Country B. But a passenger from Country A and Country B could fly to another country’s hub and then co-mingle.
Korean Air, Turkish and Qatar are dependent on regions that have either struggled to bring the virus under control or have especially strict entry restrictions.
Korean Air derives a large portion of its business from the U.S. while Turkish and Qatar are reliant on Europe.
Some European countries have cautioned there will be little summer travel. Qatar also has a wide network to Australia, which cautioned there may not be substantial international travel until the end of the year. (Forbes)