Asiana A350 / Courtesy of Asiana Airlines

By Kim Hyun-bin

The resurgence of COVID-19 is putting airlines and travel industries on their toes as infection rates have been rising fast over the past week, according to industry officials Tuesday. Air carriers and travel agencies are worried that the situation could get worse and have a dire impact on their business operations, they said.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Tuesday, there were 37,360 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of midnight, Tuesday, the highest in 62 days. The airline industry is expected to be hit the hardest if the COVID-19 resurgence intensifies.

Although the number of confirmed cases in Korea is increasing rapidly, it is reported that so far there are not many inquiries for flight cancellations.

The airline industry believes that the possibility of a full lockdown due to the COVID-19 resurgence is low, as many countries around the world have eased quarantine measures, such as the abolition of the mandatory submission of negative PCR tests upon arrival.

Aside from the quarantine situation, airlines are concerned that travel sentiment may shrink, which could dampen travel demand.

Travel demand has exploded after the easing of quarantine measures, and the number of monthly international passengers exceeded 1 million for the first time since the COVID-19 crisis began.

Korean Air and Asiana Airlines are expanding their international flights, focusing on routes to the Americas and Europe, and domestic low-cost carriers (LCC) are expanding routes to Southeast Asia.

"In the peak season, airlines are preparing to increase flights, but worry that the plan will be disrupted due to the resurgence of COVID-19," a major airline official said. "Easing of quarantine measures is essential for normalization of international flights, but there are concerns that the resurgence of COVID-19 will strengthen them."

Passenger demand could also be weakened amid an unstable external environment such as unfavorable exchange rates and high oil prices, which are expected to delay the normalization of business operations.

In particular, if LCCs, which have been suffering operating losses for over two years, do not recover international flights even in the second half of this year, their financial difficulties will become worse.

Travel agencies are also monitoring the situation closely, as a continuous surge in infections could directly affect profitability.

"Currently, there has not been a huge impact so far and the travel demand has been rising slowly, but we are monitoring the situation in case it gets worse," a Hana Tour official said.

The travel industry fears that the rise in infections could force the government to once again strengthen quarantine regulations, such as social distancing and mandatory quarantine for overseas arrivals.