The empty planes landed at an empty airport. The global aviation industry faces the risk of losing US $ 113 billion in revenue due to nCoV.

Covid-19 has not shown signs of stopping spreading around the world, making aviation industry miserable. Aviation stocks plunged in the trading session on March 5, when investors thought that delays, lost revenue and reduced services will continue in the next few months.

Several airlines such as United Airlines, JetBlue and Lufthansa recently announced the closure of new routes. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said that Covid-19 could "blow away" about US $ 63-113 billion in global aviation sales this year.

"Compared to last week, there were fewer passengers this week. The number of flights dropped because no one wanted to fly," said Nicholas E. Calio, executive director of the American Aviation Association.

Covid-19 caused the stock market to fluctuate, upsetting supply chains and forcing many companies to resort to emergency response plans. But the sudden decline in global air travel is showing the more serious impact of Covid-19 on the world economy.

David Clark, general manager of advertising agency FreeWheel, flew to Kennedy International Airport in New York on the morning of March 5 after attending a meeting in Cancun, Mexico. Clark, who regularly flies, said his flight was almost empty and both airports were deserted. He plans not to continue flying for several months.

"It was a very strange experience. I wonder if the airlines can maintain their operations?", He said.

It has been 20 years since the aviation industry faced such a vital threat. After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, global aviation seriously declined and it took many years to fully recover. Right now, many people are concerned that Covid-19 will be able to cause a similar "disaster".

"Last week, we started seeing a sharp decline. It feels like 9/11," said Gary Kelly, managing director of Southwest Airlines.

Earlier, the world aviation industry was struggling with the crisis of Boeing 737 MAX, the plane had to stop working after two terrible accidents. The 737 MAX banning flights affected the expected growth of many airlines, forcing them to cancel thousands of flights and result in billions of dollars in damage.

But with Covid-19, the threat is much bigger, as it makes many tourists can stay away from the plane for a long time. Although this is only the first phase of the epidemic, many people are concerned that the prolonged situation could cause long-term economic losses. Like the Internet, commercial aviation is the link of the global economy.

"Less than two months, the prospects of the aviation industry in many countries around the world are getting worse," said Alexandre de Juniac, head of the International Air Transport Association. The association predicts revenue will drop more than $ 100 million. Juniac said the rapid change in aviation industry outlook is "almost unprecedented".

There are signs that the global air travel industry is stagnating. On social networks, many people share photos of empty planes. Others posted photos of empty airports and airport workers wearing tight protective gear in large cities like New Delhi, Zurich and Istanbul.

Kristi Faulkner, president of advertising agency Womenkind, said she plans to attend Shoptalk, a conference of retailers in Las Vegas. When the conference was canceled on March 5, she tried to call Delta Air Lines, but received a message telling her that it had to wait three hours to meet the representative. The message added that she should contact again on another day if not going for the next 3 days.

"How can they not prepare to solve the problem for passengers? The call center is always overloaded," she said.

Dolly Meckler, a social media strategist, flew from New York to Los Angeles on March 4 after attending several meetings and family visits. "Half of the seats on my flight were vacant. Many of us even sat on the entire row," she said, adding that seat passengers used towels to clean their seats.

In 2018, the airlines carried more than 4.3 billion passengers, up from nearly 500 million in the previous two decades, according to the International Civil Aviation Authority. In recent years, air travel has been constantly developing, especially in Asia.

"People need to be directly connected," said Ian Bremmer, founder of Eurasia Group, which advises on the impact of globalization.

If air travel continues to stagnate, all relevant ecosystems including restaurants, shops, taxis and hotels will be affected. European airports and related businesses provide nearly 12.5 million jobs, totaling approximately US $ 758 billion, according to the European airport's economic impact study.

On March 4, President Donald Trump and representatives of the business community rejected the idea of government financial support for aviation. Mr Bremmer believes that cancellation will increase in the next few months, but air travel can recover relatively quickly.

"People want to shake hands and meet each other like before. It is very helpful to maintain operations for all industries," he said.

However, the impact of Covid-19 is increasingly clear. Shares of American Airlines and United Airlines both fell 13% in trading on March 5.

United Airlines said on Wednesday it will reduce its international flights by 20% in April and has a similar plan for May. It will also reduce domestic flights. JetBlue, the airline primarily operating in the US, said it would temporarily cut about 5% of flights. Both airlines also announced many other countermeasures, such as halting recruitment to increase cash reserves.

The Lufthana Group, which owns airlines such as Lufthana German Airlines, Swiss Air and Austrian Airlines, has begun cutting service by about 25%.

Southwest Airlines, which almost exclusively has domestic services, said its first two-month sales were good but things have changed in recent days. "About a week ago, we started to witness a sharp drop in bookings compared to the same period last year. Everything happened so fast," Kelly said.