While fears that Sars might undermine China's wider economy have eased in recent weeks amid what appears to be a dramatic slowing in the spread of the disease, analysts say the damage to the airline sector is likely to be enduring.
Chinese airlines have given only limited guidance on the wider impact of the epidemic, which has largely halted foreign tourism and prompted a sharp decline in domestic travel.
China Southern, whose core group unit is listed in Hong Kong and New York, insisted the carrier had not cancelled any flights because of Sars. However, ticket agents said last-minute China Southern cancellations had become so common that it was impossible to know what flights were actually available.
A senior China Southern official admitted that Sars had begun affecting passenger loads in March, had had a major impact in April and that by May numbers were down 85 per cent year-on-year.
The World Health Organisation's decision to lift its advisory against travel to China's southern province of Guangdong, where Sars made its earliest known appearance late last year and where China Southern has its headquarters, meant that June numbers were slightly better, he said.
"There was a clearly visible recovery after the lifting of the travel advisory on May 23, but the scale of the change was not very big," the official said. Mure Dickie, Beijing
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