The coronavirus has impacted the travel business to such an extent that India’s chief air carrier Air India announced on Wednesday that it will close five offices across Europe due to no flight operations, according to media reports.

Air India is set to pull down the shutters on its offices in Vienna (Austria), Milan (Italy), Madrid (Spain), Copenhagen (Denmark) and Stockholm (Sweden).

“In view of the Covid-19 situation, Air India has decided to close down these stations and would immediately initiate action for the closure in consultation with local lawyers and advise the timelines, by which the station will be closed,” an Air India spokesperson was cited as saying, according to a DNA report.

No Vande Bharat Mission flights are planned to these countries anytime soon, while regular flight operations have been suspended due to the pandemic.

The reports suggested that Air India is likely to shut down operations in these European cities as it is not financially viable for the airline to run on these routes.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the aviation sector received a major blow by the coronavirus- induced lockdown.

IATA believes that global passenger traffic will not return to pre-Covid levels until 2024.

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