4 Industries That Are Booming in the Wake of Coronavirus

Coronavirus (COVID-19) has had a devastating effect on the world’s economy. The U.S. stock market has toppled by more than 20 percent in three short weeks. Commercial airline companies are fighting for survival, and retail companies that have not made a successful transition to online sales may well be looking at extinction.

Yet even in the growing shadow of a worldwide recession, certain industries are booming. Here’s a look at four of them.

The Private Aviation Industry

Private jet brokers have seen demand for charter bookings go up by as much as 300 percent since coronavirus started making headlines. The driver? Concerns about safety: You’ll only be sharing the cabin of a small private plane with passengers who are already known to you or whom you can assume have been carefully vetted. You won’t have to stand with strangers on long security lines, either.

In contrast, when you fly commercial, you’ll be sharing your personal space with thousands of strangers in airports and on planes. Vectors for possible contagion are far more numerous. Why take that chance when the price for a seat on a private charter is only marginally higher than a business- or first-class seat on a jumbo jet?

Notes Jeffrey Carrithers, President and CEO of the aviation hub Globalair.com, “Domestically there are probably in the vicinity of 2,000 aircraft available for charter, and quite a few would be piston aircraft. So there will be only so much to go around. Common sense would suggest that the longer the Coronavirus persists and spreads, the more people would be inclined to travel privately than on an airline.“

Online Gaming

After Chinese colleges and universities postponed the start of the new school year due to concerns about coronavirus, online gaming saw a dramatic surge in China. Tencent, which is the world’s largest video game company, saw a 50 percent hike in purchases and subscription-based online playtime of blockbuster games like “Honor of Kings.”

High school and college students are the top user group for video games. Since many secondary schools and institutions of higher learning have been closed pending a resolution to the coronavirus crisis, it’s reasonable to anticipate a similar surge in online video gaming throughout the United States.

Biotech Companies

The search for an effective coronavirus vaccine is on, and biotech companies, particularly those that focus on the development of antivirals, are in a position to profit from it.

Several companies, including Biocryst Pharmaceuticals and Gilead Sciences, have already developed therapies with proven effectiveness against other deadly viruses like Ebola and Marburg. There’s still a lot of work to be done, of course.

Disinfectant Manufacturers

Since the news about coronavirus broke, Americans have been stockpiling hand sanitizer and bleach in such large quantities that these staples have been almost impossible to find on supermarket shelves. The demand for these products will only continue to soar while the virus remains a serious threat to public health.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes.