Emirates Airline Asks Staff to Take One Month Unpaid Leave Over Coronavirus

China’s Factories at Risk of Double Whammy as Coronavirus Hits South Korea, Japan

BEIJING鈥擳he spread of the coronavirus in South Korea and Japan could mean a second wave of disruption at Chinese factories after the disease triggered a record contraction in activity last month. Cases of the flu-like outbreak have jumped in South Korea and Japan, prompting some manufacturers there to partially suspend operations and risking a reduction in the supply of spare parts to factories in China as they restart work. Chinese authorities have eased some travel restrictions and enabled some businesses to reopen. But imports from South Korea and Japan play a key role in China’s manufacturing economy, particularly the production and assembly of electronics goods. “The lack of a few components can halt the entire production process, so if Japanese and Korean firms can’t supply goods, then they’ll increase headaches…

Major international airline Emirates is asking staff to take unpaid leave for up to a month at a time due to the rapidly spreading coronavirus that has led to flight cancellations around the world.

Emirates has canceled flights to Iran, Bahrain and to most of China because of the virus, and countries around the world have placed strict restrictions on entry of foreigners.

The airline has more resources than it needs as a result of cutting frequencies or canceling flights to some destinations, said Chief Operating Officer Adel al-Redha in a statement on March 3.

“Considering the availability of additional resources and the fact that many employees want to utilize their leave, we have provided our employees the option to avail leave or apply for voluntary unpaid leave for up to one month at a time,” he said.

Emirates Airline Asks Staff to Take One Month Unpaid Leave Over Coronavirus

Emirates Group, the state-owned holding company that counts the airline among its assets, has asked staff to consider taking paid and unpaid leave as it seeks to manage a “measurable slowdown” in its business, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an internal company email.

The group had more than 100,000 employees, including more than 21,000 cabin crew and 4,000 pilots, at the end of March 2019, the end of its last financial year.

Major concerts and events in the United Arab Emirates, an air transit center that includes tourism and business hub Dubai, have been canceled or postponed as the coronavirus spreads in the Gulf.

The airline industry’s largest global body IATA on Monday urged Middle Eastern governments to provide support to airlines as they try to manage the impact of the outbreak.

聽By Alexander Cornwell

This article is from the Internet:Emirates Airline Asks Staff to Take One Month Unpaid Leave Over Coronavirus

Pakistan’s Largest City Shuts Schools for 2 Weeks Over Virus Fears

Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh extended the closure of all educational institutions following the confirmation of a second coronavirus case in Karachi, the country’s largest city. Pakistan has confirmed four cases of coronavirus, three of them involving people who had traveled to neighboring Iran, one of the countries hardest hit by the outbreak that began in China in December. While two of the confirmed cases were in the southern port city of Karachi, the other two were in the capital Islamabad. Rescue workers wearing masks and protective clothing move a man during a mock drill on handling suspected carriers of coronavirus, in Peshawar, Pakistan, on March 2, 2020. (Fayaz Aziz/Reuters)Schools in Sindh have been closed since Feb. 27, after the first case in Karachi was confirmed. “The Sindh government has…