Coronavirus causes steep reduction in flights at airports closest to Wuhan
- Ben Geman, author ofAxios Generate
People wearing masks while traveling through the Beijing Capital International Airport on Jan. 22. Photo: Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images
Royal Bank of Canada's oil analysts found that departures from the five largest Chinese airports fell by nearly 800 flights this past weekend compared to the prior one — and air traffic in the five airports closest to Wuhan has dropped by nearly half in recent days.
Why it matters: The analysis, which even included a look at foot traffic, was meant to assess how the coronavirus outbreak in China affected flight traffic within major Asian airports. "We have not observed a change in consumer traffic in the busiest Asian airports outside of China," the bank said in its report.
Go deeper: Misinformation about coronavirus is spreading fast