Airlines halt, reduce flights
A number of airlines say they are halting or reducing flights to China as the country struggles to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
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.
Here is a list of airlines that have announced changes:
AIR FRANCE
Air France suspended its three weekly flights to Wuhan on Jan 24, but as of yesterday morning, it was maintaining its 23 weekly flights to Beijing and Shanghai.
BRITISH AIRWAYS
British Airways said it had suspended all its flights to and from mainland China. The airline flies daily from London’s Heathrow airport to Shanghai and Beijing. The airline said it had taken the move following advice from the government against all but essential travel to China.
CATHAY PACIFIC
The Hong Kong-based carrier said on Tuesday it would progressively reduce capacity by 50% or more on its routes to mainland China from today through to the end of March.
FINNAIR
Finnair, which offers many connections between Europe and Asia, said on Tuesday that the suspension of group travel from China was leading it to suspend some flights beginning Feb 5 through most of March.
For the moment it will continue daily flights to Beijing and Shanghai, two daily flights to Hong Kong, and two weekly flights to Guangzhou.
LION AIR
Indonesia’s Lion Air Group, Southeast Asia’s biggest carrier by fleet size, is halting all its flights to and from China, a company spokesman said yesterday.
The suspension, which affects routes to 15 different Chinese cities, goes into effect from Saturday until further notice.
UNITED AIRLINES
The US carrier said on Tuesday it will trim its service to China from the United States in light of a big drop in demand following a call by US health officials to avoid non-essential travel to the country.
United said certain flights to Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai beginning Saturday through Feb 8 from three US cities were affected.
URALS AIRLINES
Russia’s Urals Airlines, which had already suspended flights to several destinations in China, announced yesterday it was cutting some services to Europe popular with Chinese tourists, including Paris and Rome, because of the outbreak.