New Zealand's Auckland International Airport Ltd <AIA.NZ> on Friday cut its full-year profit outlook due to the coronavirus-led plunge in demand and flagged "significant reduction" in flights and passengers.
The country's biggest airport operator revised down its 2020 underlying profit after tax to between NZ$210 million and NZ$235 million ($129.1 million-$144.4 million) from the prior range of NZ$260 million and NZ$270 million announced last month.
Airlines around the world are experiencing weak demand due to COVID-19. An industry body last week estimated that passenger revenue for airlines could drop by as much as $113 billion this year.
"We've seen an immediate impact on business travel, and we are now anticipating a rapid downturn in leisure travel in the coming months, as cancellations flow through and demand for bookings continues to soften," the company said in a statement.
It said total passengers going through its terminals fell 8.6% in February and international passengers for the first 10 days of March slumped 18% compared with the corresponding period.
Earlier this week, Air New Zealand's <AIR.NZ>, the country's flag carrier, withdrew its 2020 earnings outlook due to increased uncertainty over the duration and scale of the outbreak.
(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
