BA owner International Airlines Group (IAG) said that earnings have been hit by “weaker demand” as a result of the outbreak.

It also said it has seen lower demand on Asian and European routes as well as weaker business travel across its network due to the cancellation of industry events and corporate travel restrictions.

Willie Walsh, chief executive of the firm which also owns Aer Lingus, said he believed the impact of coronavirus on the airline industry would be significant enough for some failing airlines to be “pushed over the edge”.

“We are well able to adjust to this situation because our business is in great shape. It’s the failing airlines who will be most affected by this… so without question, there will be more consolidation as a result,” he said.

EasyJet said the increase in cases in northern Italy has resulted in softer demand in the region, while demand has also slowed in other European markets.

The company added that it is “too early” to determine the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on its outlook for the current year.

However, it said it would be making a number of cuts in order to mitigate the effect on its trading performance including “recruitment, promotion and pay freezes across the network”.

IAG suspended flights to mainland China in January and earlier this month BA also reduced its Hong Kong service and will reduce the regularity of its service to Seoul in coming weeks.

It added that capacity on Italian routes has been significantly impacted by the outbreak, too, but the company redeployed aircraft to routes with stronger demand such as India, South Africa and the US.

EasyJet also plans to look at aircraft re-allocation for this summer in order to offer the highest revenue opportunities.

The update came as IAG reported that operating profits for 2019 fell by 33.6 per cent to £2.6bn.

It also comes a day after plans to build a third runway at Heathrow were thrown into doubt after a court ruling over the move’s impact on climate.

Walsh said he was “not surprised” by the ruling, but is looking to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to intervene.

Meanwhile, passenger revenues increased by 5 per cent to £22.4bn on the back of a 4 per cent increase in capacity.

Walsh added: “These are good results in a year affected by disruption and higher fuel prices.

“We demonstrated our robust and flexible model once again through additional cost control and by reducing capacity growth to reflect market conditions.

“We’ve increased investment in new aircraft, customer products and operational resilience and this has seen our airlines improve their customer performance scores this year.”

BA owner International Airlines Group (IAG) said that earnings have been hit by “weaker demand” as a result of the outbreak.

It also said it has seen lower demand on Asian and European routes as well as weaker business travel across its network due to the cancellation of industry events and corporate travel restrictions.

Willie Walsh, chief executive of the firm which also owns Aer Lingus, said he believed the impact of coronavirus on the airline industry would be significant enough for some failing airlines to be “pushed over the edge”.

“We are well able to adjust to this situation because our business is in great shape. It’s the failing airlines who will be most affected by this… so without question, there will be more consolidation as a result,” he said.

EasyJet said the increase in cases in northern Italy has resulted in softer demand in the region, while demand has also slowed in other European markets.

The company added that it is “too early” to determine the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on its outlook for the current year.

However, it said it would be making a number of cuts in order to mitigate the effect on its trading performance including “recruitment, promotion and pay freezes across the network”.

IAG suspended flights to mainland China in January and earlier this month BA also reduced its Hong Kong service and will reduce the regularity of its service to Seoul in coming weeks.

It added that capacity on Italian routes has been significantly impacted by the outbreak, too, but the company redeployed aircraft to routes with stronger demand such as India, South Africa and the US.

EasyJet also plans to look at aircraft re-allocation for this summer in order to offer the highest revenue opportunities.

The update came as IAG reported that operating profits for 2019 fell by 33.6 per cent to £2.6bn.

It also comes a day after plans to build a third runway at Heathrow were thrown into doubt after a court ruling over the move’s impact on climate.

Walsh said he was “not surprised” by the ruling, but is looking to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to intervene.

Meanwhile, passenger revenues increased by 5 per cent to £22.4bn on the back of a 4 per cent increase in capacity.

Walsh added: “These are good results in a year affected by disruption and higher fuel prices.

“We demonstrated our robust and flexible model once again through additional cost control and by reducing capacity growth to reflect market conditions.

“We’ve increased investment in new aircraft, customer products and operational resilience and this has seen our airlines improve their customer performance scores this year.”