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Myanmar Says Air Passenger Numbers Diving Because of Coronavirus

Myanmar Says Air Passenger Numbers Diving Because of Coronavirus

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Passenger arrivals at Myanmar’s three international airports have tumbled 36% so far in February from the prior month because of the travel curbs sparked by the novel coronavirus outbreak.

There’s been a particularly pronounced drop in the number of Chinese visitors, to 2,000 a week from a usual average of about 30,000, said Ne Win, director of air transport at the Department of Civil Aviation.

“The virus has negatively affected all airlines, routes and destinations,” Ne Win said in an interview Tuesday in Yangon.

Before the virus outbreak, 17 airlines flew 30 routes from Myanmar to mainland China and Hong Kong, he said, adding that’s fallen to eight airlines and seven routes.

“The impact of the virus could last as long as a year,” Ne Win said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Khine Lin Kyaw in Myanmar (Non BLP Loc) at kkyaw1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sunil Jagtiani at sjagtiani@bloomberg.net, Yumi Teso

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