The Coronavirus Can't Be Stopped With Air Travel Restrictions

Lucy Budd, Stephen Ison

Security,

Cities in lock down, flights and public transport suspended, travellers in quarantine and surgical masks selling at unprecedented rates. But can it help?

Cities in lock down, flights and public transport suspended, travellers in quarantine and surgical masks selling at unprecedented rates. The emergence of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan city, Hubei province, China, as well as its rapid arrival in 25 other countries and the World Health Organization (WHO)‘s declaration of a public health emergency of international concern have once again focused attention on aviation’s role in the spread of human infectious disease.

As of February 6, more than 28,000 cases and 566 deaths had been reported in China, with additional confirmed cases in countries including Thailand, Japan, Australia, the US, UAE, Germany and the UK. Despite growing awareness of aviation’s environmental damage and the rise of “flightshaming”, air travel has never been more popular. Last year, more than 4.5 billion passengers worldwide boarded a commercial flight and the International Air Transport Association predicts that this will increase to 8.2 billion by 2037.

Worldwide air passengers carried over time