OF ALL THE industries ravaged by co-vid-19, aviation is one of the most afflicted. Governments have closed borders and discouraged travel. In response, most Western airlines plan to cut capacity on international flights by about 80%. The descent has been so steep that capa, a consultancy, says that most airlines will go bankrupt by the end of May without state aid. Yet in the very country where covid-19 began, this trend has started to reverse. In late January China imposed a quarantine to contain the virus. Within weeks, capacity on both internal and international routes fell by about 75%, making up nearly all of the world's cancelled flights in February. The decline in passengers was greater still. Even after a big cut in capacity, 71% of seats on flights to and from Guangzhou's biggest airport in February were empty. Since then, China seems to have put the worst behind it. The number of new covid-19 cases it reports per day has dwindled to a few dozen. Some observers doubt these figures' veracity. But the government is confident enough to have closed its last covid-19 hospital-and to promote flying. On March 4th it began offering subsidies to carriers that resume international flights.
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