It is not just war or armed conflict that can have an adverse effect on air travel. Sometimes a virulent virus can create enough ripples of panic in passengers that travel plans are changed or canceled, and airlines suffer as people stop flying or stay closer to home. SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) is proving to be an example of a virus that is steering passengers away from flying to certain regions of the world.
Part of the reason that SARS is so potentially devastating to certain sectors of air travel is the fact that it remains ill-understood. Could you catch it from a fellow passenger? How easily transmittable is it? How long can the virus survive airborne, or on objects that have been used by someone infected by SARS? As world health authorities grapple with trying to find concrete answers to such questions, less passengers are willing to risk their well-being (and potentially their lives) over a virus that seems to be reaching different countries by infected passengers traveling via international flights.
Not knowing all that there is to know about SARS has led to thousands of canceled bookings as many companies and individuals are heeding the advice to not travel to certain parts of the world unless absolutely necessary. Some airlines have had employees invoke work refusals as the fear of contracting the virus, and its rapid worldwide spread are realized. In light of the growing impact of SARS on air travel, it is important to know what advice is out there for passengers and what efforts airlines are taking on to prevent the spread of SARS.
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