Coronavirus: British Airways suspends all flights to mainland China, other airlines follow suit

Numerous airlines have curbed flights to China amid worsening coronavirus outbreak
Decision comes after UK government warned against ‘all but essential’ travel to mainland China

Coronavirus pandemic: All stories

ReutersandAgence France-Presse

Published: 3:35pm, 29 Jan 2020

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British Airways has suspended all direct flights to and from mainland China after Britain warned against all but essential travel to the country due to the coronavirus outbreak.

BA.com, the airline’s website, shows no direct flights to China are available in January and February.

“We apologise to customers for the inconvenience, but the safety of our customers and crew is always our priority,” BA said in an emailed statement on Wednesday.

“Customers due to travel to or from China in the coming days can find more information on BA.com.”

Britain on Tuesday advised against “all but essential” travel to mainland China due to the coronavirus outbreak. BA flies daily from London’s Heathrow airport to Shanghai and Beijing.

The coronavirus that originated in the city of Wuhan has killed 132 people in China and spread across the world.

China has advised its citizens to postpone trips abroad and cancelled overseas group tours, while several countries have urged their citizens to avoid travel to China if possible.

Other airlines said they were adjusting schedules as companies reassessed the risk of travel to China.

United Airlines is cancelling some flights to China, as will South Korean budget carrier Air Seoul, while Taiwan’s China Airlines rescheduled and cancelled some flights to China to February 10.

Taiwan’s Eva Airways also said some flights to China may be cancelled.

Air Canada said it was cancelling some of its 33 weekly flights to China, and Germany’s Lufthansa pointed to subdued bookings to and from the country.

China will contain ‘demon’ outbreak, Xi says as death toll mounts

Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific said it would be progressively reducing capacity to and from mainland China by 50 per cent or more from January 30 to the end of March, in line with a government directive as well as market demand. The reduction concerns both Cathay Pacific and its Cathay Dragon subsidiary.

Indonesia’s Lion Air Group, Southeast Asia’s biggest carrier by fleet size, said on Wednesday it is halting all flights to and from China. The suspension, which affects routes to 15 different Chinese cities, goes in to effect from February 1 until further notice.

Air France suspended its three weekly flights to Wuhan on January 24, but as of Wednesday morning said it was maintaining its 23 weekly flights to Beijing and Shanghai.

A woman wearing a face mask packs her suitcase in the departures area of Terminal 5 at Heathrow airport in London, after it was announced British Airways has suspended all services to and from China. Photo: AP

Finnair, which offers many connections between Europe and Asia, said the suspension of group travel from China was leading it to suspend some flights beginning February 5 through most of March.

SkyUp Airlines, a low-cost Ukrainian airline, said it will halt charter services to China’s resort island of Hainan until March 28. And Ukraine International Airlines said it would halt services to Hainan until February 24.

Russia’s Urals Airlines, which had already suspended flights to several destinations in China, announced on Wednesday it was cutting some services to Europe popular with Chinese tourists, including Paris and Rome, because of the outbreak.

Kazakhstan said it will halt all transport links with China, beginning with road transport on February 1 and flights from February 3.

Children adjust their face masks as they wait in line at check-in counters at Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing. Photo: AP

Myanmar Airways International announced a suspension effective from Friday for charter flights to 10 Chinese cities and was allowing passengers booked on its regular service to Guangzhou to change their travel plans without charge.

Meanwhile Myanmar National Airlines will halt flights to Hong Kong and Chengdu from Saturday and Myanmar-based airline Air KBZ has confirmed it will halt flights to the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou from February 1.

Some airlines say that for the moment they are not adjusting their operations to China, including Germany’s Lufthansa, SAS, and Virgin Atlantic.

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