Airlines suspend China flights as coronavirus risk escalates

Monitoring Desk

BEIJING: Airlines are suspending flights to China in the wake of the new coronavirus outbreak, which as of Friday had killed more than 200 people and infected nearly 10,000 people.

Here is the latest on their plans (in alphabetical order):

AIR CANADA

Air Canada said on Jan. 28 it was cancelling select flights to China.

AIR FRANCE

Air France said on Jan. 30 it suspended all scheduled flights to and from mainland China until Feb. 9.

AIR INDIA

Air India said it was cancelling its Mumbai-Delhi-Shanghai flight from Jan. 31 to Feb. 14.

AIR NEW ZEALAND

Air New Zealand said on Jan. 31 it was temporarily reducing flights between Auckland and Shanghai to four return services a week from Feb. 18 to March 31 rather than the usual daily flights.

AIR SEOUL

South Korean budget carrier Air Seoul said on Jan. 28 it had suspended all flights to China.

AIR TANZANIA

Tanzania’s state-owned carrier said it would postpone its maiden flights to China. It had planned to begin charter flights to China in February.

AMERICAN AIRLINES

American Airlines said it will cancel flights to Beijing and Shanghai starting Jan. 31, and run through March 27, though it will continue to fly to Hong Kong.

BRITISH AIRWAYS

BA said on Jan. 30 it had cancelled all flights to mainland China for a month.

CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS

Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific said it would progressively reduce capacity to and from mainland China by 50% or more from Jan. 30 to the end of March.

DELTA AIR LINES

Delta Air Lines announced cancellations, with its last flights out of mainland China on Feb. 5, running through April 30.

EGYPTAIR

Egypt’s flag carrier said on Jan. 30 it would suspend all flights to and from China starting Feb. 1.

EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES

El Al Israel Airlines said on Jan. 30 it was suspending flights to Beijing until March 25. Israel’s Health Ministry said it will not allow flights from China to land at its airports.

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES

The African carrier on Jan. 30 denied reports it had suspended all flights to China. The airline’s statement contradicted its passenger call centre, which told Reuters earlier in the day that flights to China had been suspended.

ETIHAD AIRWAYS

Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways said passenger flights between Beijing and Nagoya, in Japan, had been temporarily suspended due to low travel demand.

FINNAIR

Finland’s Finnair said on Jan. 31 it was cancelling all flights to mainland China between Feb. 6 and Feb. 29 and to Guangzhou between Feb. 5 and March 29.

KENYA AIRWAYS

Kenya Airways said on Jan. 31 it has suspended all flights to China until further notice.

LION AIR

Indonesia’s Lion Air Group said on Jan. 29 it would suspend all flights to China from February. The airline has suspended six flights from several Indonesian cities to China so far and will suspend the rest next month.

LOT POLISH AIRLINES

Polish carrier LOT said it had decided to temporarily suspend its flights to Beijing until Feb. 9.

LUFTHANSA

Germany’s Lufthansa said on Jan. 29 it was suspending Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian Airlines flights to and from China until Feb. 9. The airline continues to fly to Hong Kong, but it will stop taking bookings for flights to mainland China until the end of February.

ROYAL AIR MAROC

Moroccan airline Royal Air Maroc (RAM) has temporarily suspended its direct flights to China, the company said on Jan. 30. RAM had on Jan. 16 launched a direct air route with three flights weekly between its Casablanca hub and Beijing.

RUSSIA

All Russian airlines, with the exception of national airline Aeroflot, will stop flying to China, Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said.

RWANDAIR

Rwanda carrier RwandAir has halted flights to and from China until further notice, the airline said in a statement on Friday.

The decision will be reviewed later in February, it said.

SAS

Nordic airline SAS said on Jan. 30 it has decided to suspend all flights to and from Shanghai and Beijing from Jan. 31 until Feb. 9.

SAS offers 12 regular weekly connections from and to Shanghai and Beijing.

SCOOT

Singapore airline Scoot said it was suspending all flights between Singapore and China from Feb. 8, media reported.

SHANGHAI AIRLINES

Shanghai Airlines said on Jan. 31 it would suspend its Chengdu-Budapest flight between Feb. 4 and March 28 and its Xi’an-Budapest flight between Feb. 6 and March 26 according to a statement on the website of the Budapest Airport operator.

The airline’s Shanghai-Budapest flight is unaffected.

SINGAPORE AIRLINES

Singapore Airlines Ltd said on Jan. 31 it would reduce capacity on some of its routes to mainland China in February.

The cuts include flights to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Xiamen and Chongqing, some of which are flown by regional arm SilkAir. Its budget carrier Scoot is also cutting back on flights to China.

TURKISH AIRLINES

Turkey’s flag carrier said on Jan. 30 it would decrease frequency on scheduled flights to Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Xian between Feb. 5 and Feb. 29.

UNITED AIRLINES

Chicago-based United announced cancellations, saying last flights out of mainland China will be Feb. 5, running through March 28.

United had previously suspended 24 U.S. flights to Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai between Feb. 1 and Feb. 8 because of a significant drop in demand.

UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INC

UPS has cancelled 22 China flights, as a result of the Wuhan quarantines and normal manufacturing closures due to the Lunar New Year holiday, UPS Chief Executive David Abney said on Jan. 30. He did not specify how many flights cancellations were due to the virus.

VIETJET VJC

Vietnam’s Vietjet will suspend all flights to and from China from Feb. 1, the company said on Jan. 31. Vietnam Airlines will suspend some flights to China.

VIETNAM AIRLINES

Vietnam Airlines HVN.HM will suspend its flights to destinations in China next week over coronavirus concerns, the company said on Friday.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC

Virgin Atlantic said on Jan. 30 it would suspend its daily operations to Shanghai for two weeks from Feb. 2. It cited declining demand for flights and the safety of its customers and staff.

Major U.S. airlines cancel China flights

All three major U.S. airlines announced the cancellation of flights to mainland China on Friday as the U.S. government unveiled additional steps to curb the spread of the coronavirus, which originated in China.

The trio of carriers, United Airlines Holdings Inc, Delta Air Lines Inc and American Airlines Group Inc, had already moved to reduce flights to China amid a sharp drop in demand due to the flu-like virus.

The Trump administration on Friday declared a public health emergency over the coronavirus outbreak and said it would take the extraordinary step of barring entry to the United States of foreign nationals who have recently travelled to China.

As of Sunday, the United States will also limit flights from China to seven U.S. airports and U.S. citizens who have travelled to China’s Hubei Province within the last 14 days will be subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine.

However, the administration was not considering “at the moment” more drastic actions like barring all flights from China, assistant Transportation Secretary Joel Szabat said at a White House briefing, noting that airlines were already voluntarily taking action to stop flights.

“There is no travel ban,” said Szabat, adding: “This is an evolving situation.”

On Thursday the U.S. State Department elevated a travel advisory, raising China to the same level as Afghanistan and Iraq.

Airline crews had urged carriers stop flights to the country, with American’s pilots filing a lawsuit on Thursday seeking an immediate halt.

American on Friday announced cancellations to Beijing and Shanghai starting immediately and running through March 27, though it will continue to fly to Hong Kong.

United and Delta’s last flights out of mainland China will be Feb. 5, with cancellations running through March 28 and April 30 respectively.

Some internal messages by employees of United, the largest U.S. carrier to China, seen by Reuters expressed concern that the airline was not stopping flights sooner.

In its statement, United said the decision to operate flights until Feb. 5 would “help ensure our U.S. based employees, as well as customers, have options to return home.”

United will also continue to operate a daily flight to Hong Kong.

U.S. airline shares have posted heavy losses this week on concerns of the financial impact of the virus.

Passenger traffic from China had fallen by nearly 20% over the last week as of Thursday, while travel from the United States to China had dropped by more than 50%, Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Ken Cuccinelli said.

Other airlines that have stopped their flights to mainland China include Air France KLM SA, British Airways, Germany’s Lufthansa and Virgin Atlantic.

Major Chinese carriers were still operating flights to and from the United States as of Friday.

Courtesy: (Reuters)