Major airlines are scaling back flights dramatically in response to the coronavirus crisis that has seen Europe and the wider world go into lockdown.

Budget airline EasyJet said it is making big cancellations that will continue on a rolling basis. It said that could result in the grounding of the majority of its fleet.

BA’s parent company, IAG, which also owns Spain’s Iberia, said that for April and May it plans to reduce capacity by at least 75 per cent from the previous year. It also said it is reducing operating expenses, including through voluntary leave options.

Ryanair, Europe’s busiest airline, said it expects to ground the majority of its fleet across Europe over the next 7-10 days.

Travel company Tui is suspending the vast majority of travel operations until further notice, including package travel, cruises and hotel operations.

A day earlier, United Airlines had said it needs to cut flying capacity by 50 per cent in April and May, while American Airlines announced a 75 per cent cut to international flights.

The Swedish government presented yesterday an economic package that will allow all firms in Sweden to defer tax payments for up to a year.  The package is expected to cost more than 300 billion kronor ($21 billion), or some 6 per cent of GDP.

The center-right government, sided by the center-right opposition, is introducing with immediate effect a system where companies can reduce employees’ work hours by 60 per cent but retain 90 per cent of their salary.

“Just to be clear, Sweden has a heavy and stressful time ahead,” Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson told a news conference when presenting the package.

All Disney owned hotels at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, will close at 5 pm on March 20, the company said early yesterday. The closure also includes Disney’s Vero Beach Resort on Florida’s Atlantic Coast.

In a tweet, the company said the Friday closure will give guests the ability to make other arrangements.

In addition, the company announced it is closing all Disney stores in North America, beginning Tuesday. This includes the shops in Orlando’s Disney Springs and Downtown Disney in Anaheim, California. Online shopping will still be available.

The Italian-American carmaker said yesterday it is closing six plants in Italy that make cars under the Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Maserati nameplates as well as a plant in Serbia that makes the Fiat 500L and one in Poland that makes the Fiat 500.

The production suspension was taken beyond measures already undertaken to sanitize work and rest areas, create greater distance between workers and facilitate remote working, which is now available to employees across the globe.