Swine flu - how will aviation be affected?

[TheLocalYokel]

I don't wish to sound callous and I say straight away that people's health and lives are the most important thing but this is an aviation forum so this question is probably pertinent.

With airlines now in the grip of one of the most severe downturns ever, they now have to contend with the possibility that international travel will be curtailed drastically if the swine flu develops into a full-blown pandemic.

Already share prices in airlines and travel companies are being knocked down significantly on the fear that business will adversely affected.

At the moment it seems that the world health authoprities don't know how bad the outbreak might be but cases, thankfully relatively mild so far, have been identified in several countries outside Mexico, including a confirmation this evening that two men in Scotland have the illness. As we know, there have been over a hundred deaths in Mexico.

There must already be huge question marks on visits to Mexico which will be sure to impact negatively on flights to that country, including charter flights from some UK regional airports.

Of course we all hope the outbreak will be contained but if it isn't I believe it could have a devastating effect on a number of airlines and travel companies.

Are any forum members already reviewing their attitude to foreign travel?

 

[Aviador]

I don't really think people should be too alarmed by the happenings in Mexico although it's probably not such a good idea to go there right now. I seem to remember a few years ago, a winter flu bug killed hundreds of people in the UK and bodies were being stored in temporary refrigerator wagons because the mortuaries in the hospitals were all full. Back then there wasn't any talk about a pandemic or anything like that although it was very bad. Right now it seems like a big media frenzy fighting over a news story because they're all so bored of talking about the economy. As for reviewing my attitude towards foreign travel? I'm going to Malta in a couple of weeks and I'm not reconsidering my travel plans although it's probably safer in Malta than it is back here in the UK.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Tour companies have now cancelled all flights to Mexico and will review early next month. There was a piece in today's local evening paper that First Choice has cancelled its Cancun flights from Bristol until next month because of the situation in Mexico. National tv carried reports from Gatwick and Manchester airports yesterday and today re the cessation of flights to Mexico from those places.

I was surprised to hear on telly this evening that in an average year around 12,000 people in the UK die from flu.

Certainly bird flu and SARS don't seem to have been the dread that was prophesied at one time.

Fingers and everything crossed that this swine flu doesn't become the pandemic that the presse seems to be anticipating.

 

[Aviador]

Thousands of British people in Mexico cut short their holidays

Thousands of British holidaymakers in Mexico were preparing to cut short their holidays while thousands more were stranded in the UK after major tour operators cancelled flights to the country.

The first British holidaymakers to arrive home since the crisis began said they were terrified after Mexico City was left like a "ghost town".

Karen Whitehouse, 22, and her boyfriend Alex Henney, 31, were so worried about contracting swine flu that they paid £1,300 each for a flight back from Mexico City to Heathrow, landing yesterday afternoon having cut short their two-week holiday after just five days.

Swine flu: honeymoon couple among stranded Mr Hennney, a stockbroker from Clapham, said: "The people in Mexico were panic stricken. There was a woman whose neighbour had died of swine flu on the news, she was terrified but no doctor would go to see her and got no medicine.

"People were getting sick but ambulance crews were too terrified to take them to hospital."

Miss Whitehouse, from Fulham, added: "Suddenly Mexico City was like a ghost town. I was hoping to visit some friends who lived in the city, but they wouldn't see me, nobody wanted to leave their houses."

Thomas Cook cancelled the six Thomas Cook and Airtours flights to the tourist resort of Cancun for the next week, while TUI Travel, which owns Thomson and First Choice, cancelled all 14 flights to Cancun and Cozumel up until May 8th.

Virgin has cancelled package holidays to Mexico until May 5th, as has the travel operator Kuoni until May 3rd. British Airways said it was continuing to fly in and out as normal.

It has left over 7,000 holidaymakers stranded at home. Honeymoons and trips of a lifetime have been cancelled or put on hold, while those hoping to fly out after next week face an anxious wait to see whether they will be allowed to.

There are currently than 7,000 British holidaymakers in Mexico, with many expected to take up the offer of an early return home. Reports suggested the cities were worse affected by the panic than the beach resorts.

Tour operators said that flights leaving the country were operating as normal, there were currently spaces on them and no plans were in place to put on extra planes.

Damrys Madon, 32, who was also on the BA flight landing at Heathrow from Mexico City, said she and her 10-month-old daughter Natalie, had been in Mexico City visiting family, but came home early.

Her husband Alex, 40, who embraced them in tears as they arrived, said: "I have been worried sick about them, I am just so glad they are home."

As thousands rushed to get home, newlyweds Andrew and Ilona Jackson arrived at Gatwick airport yesterday morning to check-in for their two-week honeymoon with Thomson's in a £2,500, four-star resort near Cancun, only to be told it had been cancelled.

Mrs Jackson, 27, from Newham, London, said: "We checked the night before to see that everything was ok and we were assured it was. But when we arrived at Gatwick there was a queue of people at check-in and so many of them were in tears, just devastated.

"I couldn't stop crying either; I just thought our honeymoon had been destroyed."

Mr Jackson, 30, a reception manager for RBS, and his wife agreed an alternative holiday to Taba in Egypt.

Martin Rooke, 30, and his wife Victoria, 25, from Torquay in Devon, said it was the second time their dream holiday to Mexico had been cancelled. They had planned to go to Cancun in 2005 until hurricane Wilma hit the country.

This time they had booked a £3,000 five star resort for two weeks.

Mrs Rooke, a GP's secretary, said: "I have been in tears all morning, but we have just resigned ourselves to the fact that instead of getting on a plane we are back on the train for the long trip back to Devon."

Virgin, Kuoni, TUI and Thomas Cook stressed that those booked on the cancelled flights could rebook to another destination, delay their holidays or receive a full refund.

A Thomas Cook spokesman said: "Obviously it's a moving situation which can change quickly. We are keeping a close eye on Foreign Office advice."

Travellers were also urged to check their insurance. Nick Starling, the Association of British Insurers' director of general insurance and health, said that while travel policies vary, some companies will cover the cost of the holiday if a Government advises against travelling there.

Health checks for all passengers using British airports and sea ports are being stepped up. Anyone arriving in Britain or checking in for flights and crossings will be asked if they are suffering flu or showing flu-like symptoms.

They could be sent to a local hospital to have samples taken from nose and throat swabs, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) said.

Source

 

[Aviador]

Three of the five people in Britain who have contracted swine flu were on the same flight from Cancún, Mexico, to Birmingham airport. The 12-year-old girl from Torbay and Iain and Dawn Askham, from Polmont in Scotland, travelled on 21 April on a Thomson and First Choice charter, a Boeing 767-300, flight number TOM 578, for TUI, the parent company of both travel operators. Last night, Thomson and First Choice representatives were trying to contact all passengers from the flight. The Health Protection Agency was also going through the passenger manifest.

I found it odd that the Government didn't insist on some sort of health check on passengers returning to the UK. I understand that the virus has an incubation period of up to a week, but screening people on arrival would at least have the potential to find people that aren't feeling 100%. Those people could then either be closely monitored or even possibly quarantined.

 

[Aviador]

Latest government estimates suggest that there's going to be a large outbreak from August.... hold onto your seats folks because we're in for a bumpy ride!

The virus is thought to be less server than originally thought but people who have things like asthma and other respiratory problems and also the elderly over 65 and the parents of under 7s are advised to contact NHS Direct after seeing Flu like symptoms.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Will it be any different to influenza generally in this country when apparently around 12,000 people die from it in the UK each winter?

 

[Aviador]

I was listening to an 'expert' on the BBC news yesterday who said that although the symptoms are very similar to the usual winter flu, the swine flu tends to hit it's victims much quicker. So basically, you can be feeling well in the morning and quite ill by the afternoon.

 

[lemonhead]

The airlines got off lightly this time with Swine Flu but who could have predicted the volcanic eruption?