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Travel agencies, airlines losing out to MERS
The Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in Saudi Arabia has affected umrah (minor haj) travel and airline businesses in the country, with the desire from Muslims in the country to perform umrah decreasing
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he Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in Saudi Arabia has affected umrah (minor haj) travel and airline businesses in the country, with the desire from Muslims in the country to perform umrah decreasing.
Some people are choosing to delay or cancel their travels, despite having planned trips for a long time.
"We recorded 20 percent of delays and 20 percent of cancellations," Thayiba Tora haj and umrah travel agency president director Artha Hanif said as quoted by kompas.com on Tuesday.
She said those who delayed and cancelled their trips were customers from the upper-middle class, while those in the lower-middle class chose to continue their plans.
The firm is calculating losses suffered from the delays and cancellations.
In addition, flag carrier Garuda Indonesia president director Emirsyah Satar said the airline had cancelled some of its daily Jakarta-Jeddah flights due to decreasing demand.
"Not many pilgrims are canceling their flights," Emirsyah said without elaborating on how many flights they had cancelled since the outbreak of MERS and how many passengers had cancelled their flights.
Meanwhile, Edward Sirait, the general affairs director of Lion Air, Indonesia's largest low cost carrier, said the airline had not calculated the number of passengers that may have canceled trips on its Jakarta-Jeddah route. (nfo)
