Accessibility links

Breaking News

FACTBOX: Airlines Suspend Flights Due to Coronavirus Outbreak


FILE - An American Airlines aircraft is preparing to land at Reagan National airport near Washington, DC. (Photo: Diaa Bekheet)
FILE - An American Airlines aircraft is preparing to land at Reagan National airport near Washington, DC. (Photo: Diaa Bekheet)

Airlines have been suspending flights or modifying services in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Below are details (in alphabetical order):

AIRLINES THAT HAVE CANCELLED ALL FLIGHTS TO MAINLAND CHINA
* American Airlines has extended the suspension of China
and Hong Kong flights through April 24

* Air France said on Feb. 6 it would suspend flights to and from mainland China for much of March
* Air India has suspended flights to Shanghai, Hong Kong until June 30
* Air Seoul has suspended China flights from Jan. 28 until further notice.
* Air Tanzania, which had planned to begin a charter service to China in February, postponed its maiden flights.
* Air Mauritius has suspended all flights to China and Hong Kong
* Austrian Airlines has suspended its service until end-February.
* British Airways has suspended flights from Jan. 29-March 31.
* Delta Airlines flights have been suspended from Feb. 2-April 30
* Egyptair suspended flights on Feb. 1, but on Feb. 20 said it would resume some flights to and from China starting next week.
* El Al Israel Airlines has extended its suspension of flights to Hong Kong and Beijing until May 2.
* Iberia Airlines has extended its suspension of flights from Madrid to Shanghai, its only route, from Feb. 29 until the end of April.
* JejuAir Co Ltd is to suspend all China routes starting March 1.
* Kenya Airways has suspended flights from Jan. 31 until further notice.
* KLM said on March. 2 it would extend its ban on flights to Chengdu, Hangzhou and Xiamen in China to at least May 3 because of the coronavirus outbreak. It expects to resume flights to Beijing and Shanghai on March 29.
* Lion Air has suspended flights for all of February.
* LOT has extended flight suspensions until March 28.
* Lufthansa has extended China flight cancellations until April 24.
* Oman Air suspended flights on Feb. 2 until further notice.
* Qatar Airways has suspended services from Feb. 1 until further notice.
* Rwandair has suspended flights from Jan. 31 until further notice.
* Saudia, Saudi Arabia's state airline, suspended flights on Feb. 2.
* Scoot, Singapore Airlines' low-cost carrier, suspended services from Feb. 8 until further notice.
* United Airlines suspended its service to Hong Kong from Feb. 8-April 23.
* Vietjet and Vietnam Airlines suspended flights to the mainland as well as Hong Kong and Macau Feb. 1-April 30, in line with its aviation authority's directive.

AIRLINES THAT HAVE CANCELLED SOME CHINA FLIGHTS/ROUTES OR MODIFIED SERVICE

* Air Canada has extended the suspension of its flights to Beijing and Shanghai until March 27. It also suspended its Toronto to Hong Kong flights from March 1 to March 27, but its Vancouver to Hong Kong route remains active.
* Air China said it would cancel flights to Athens, Greece, from Feb. 17 to March 18 and "adjust" flights between China and the United States. On Feb. 28 it resumed flying to Frankfurt from Chengdu following a 21-day suspension, state-run Xinhua news agency said.
* Air New Zealand has suspended its Auckland-Shanghai service Feb. 9-March 29. Reduced capacity on Shanghai route throughout April and Hong Kong route throughout April and May.
* ANA Holdings has suspended routes including Shanghai and Hong Kong from Feb. 10 until further notice.
* Brussels Airlines, a Lufthansa subsidiary, said on Feb. 28 it would cut flights to northern Italy by 30% from March 2 to 14.
* Cathay Pacific Airways plans to cut a third of its capacity over the next two months, including 90% of flights to mainland China. It has encouraged its 27,000 employees to take three weeks of unpaid leave in a bid to preserve cash.
* China Southern Airlines recommenced flights on Feb. 25 to Nairobi from Guangzhou.
* Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways has suspended flights to Hong Kong until March 28, the airline said on Feb. 26, citing a drop in demand.
* The UAE suspended all flights to mainland China, except Beijing, on Feb. 5.
* Finnair cancelled all flights to mainland China and decreased the number of flights to Hong Kong until March 28.
* Hainan Airlines suspended flights between Budapest, Hungary, and Chongqing Feb. 7-March 27.
* Kenya's High Court ordered flights from China to be temporarily suspended following a petition.
* Korean Air Lines Co, the national flag carrier, suspended eight routes to China and reduced services on nine Chinese routes between Feb. 7 and Feb. 22.
* Philippine Airlines cut the number of flights between Manila and China by over half.
* Qantas Airways suspended direct flights to China from Feb. 1. The Australian national carrier halted flights from Sydney to Beijing and Sydney to Shanghai between Feb. 9-March 29.
* Royal Air Maroc suspended direct flights to China Jan. 31-Feb. 29. On Jan. 16 it had launched a direct air route with three flights weekly between its Casablanca hub and Beijing.
* All Russian airlines, with the exception of national airline Aeroflot, stopped flying to China from Jan. 31. Small airline Ikar will also continue flights between Moscow and China.
* All planes arriving from China will be sent to a separate terminal in the Moscow Sheremetyevo airport. Aeroflot reduced the frequency of flights to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou until Feb. 29.
* Nordic airline SAS has extended its suspension of flights to Shanghai and Beijing until March 29.
* Singapore Airlines has suspended or cut capacity on flights to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Xiamen and Chongqing, some of which are flown by regional arm SilkAir.
* UPS has cancelled 22 flights to China because of the virus and normal manufacturing closures due to the Lunar New Year holiday.
* Virgin Atlantic has extended its suspension of daily operations to Shanghai until March 28.
* Virgin Australia said it will withdraw from the Sydney-Hong Kong route from March 2 because it was "no longer a viable commercial route" due to growing concerns over the virus and civil unrest in Hong Kong.
* Vistara Airlines temporarily reduced flights to and from Bangkok and Singapore.

AIRLINES THAT HAVE MODIFIED SERVICE ON OTHER ROUTES

* Asiana Airlines has decided to halt all flights to Daegu until March 9, while Korean Air Lines will
also suspend flights until March 28.
* Air Canada will allow travellers to rebook flights to parts of Italy at no charge.
* United Airlines adds South Korea to travel waiver list but is not cancelling flights.
* Bahrain's civil aviation authority suspends all its flights from Dubai and Sharjah airports for 48 hours.
* British Airways said it would cancel some flights to and from Italy, Singapore and South Korea as a result of reduced demand.
* Czech Republic said on March 2 it would stop flights to South Korea and cities in northern Italy for at least two weeks.
* easyJet said on Feb. 28 it would cancel flights, particularly in and out of Italy, and cut costs across its
business.
* El Al Israel Airlines said it would suspend flights to Italy, including Milan and Rome from Feb. 28 to March 14, and to Bangkok from March 2-27. It will also delay launching a new route to Tokyo from March until April 4.
* Kazakhstan plans to suspend flights to Iran from March 1 and reduce the number of South Korea flights
* Kuwait's civil aviation authority halts all its flights to and from South Korea, Thailand, and Italy. Kuwait had earlier suspended all its flights to and from Iraq.
* Lebanon halted flights for non-residents from countries including China, Iran, Italy and South Korea, the transport ministry said on Feb. 28. The ban excludes Lebanese citizens and foreign residents of the country.
* Lufthansa is to cut number of short- and medium-haul flights in response to the accelerated spread of the coronavirus, adding it will suspend flights to Tehran until April 30.
* Mongolia's National Emergency Commission said on Feb. 24 it had halted all flights from South Korea and would block entry through its borders until March 2. Mongolia had previously suspended all entries from China.
* Oman's civil aviation authority has halted all flights between the sultanate and Iran, it said on Feb. 24.
* Royal Jordanian Airlines has suspended flights between Amman and Rome until further notice starting from Feb. 26.
* Russia's Ministry of Transport said on Feb. 27 it would suspend some flights to and from Iran, except those operated by its national carrier Aeroflot and Iranian airline Mahan Air.
* Tajikistan has suspended all flights to and from Iran until the virus situation there stabilises, the Civil Aviation Agency said on Feb. 24.
* Tunisia may suspend some flights to Italy.

* Turkish Airlines extended a cancellation of flights to Iranian cities, with the exception of flights to Tehran,
until March 10.
* Turkish commercial flights between Turkey and Iran are suspended until further notice. "The Iranian carriers will fly empty to Turkey and be permitted to carry passengers destined for Iran. Turkish passengers will not be transported on these flights," Turkey's Civil Aviation Authority announced on its Twitter account.
* United Airlines sharply cut flights to Japan and South Korea as travelers have slashed ticket purchases for those destinations.
* Vietnam's Bamboo Airways suspends flights between Da Nang and Nha Trang to Seoul's Incheon International Airport, starting Feb. 26.

* Wizz Air said it would decrease the frequency of its Romania, Poland, Italy and Israel routes, cutting two-thirds of all flights on affected routes over three weeks between March 11 and April 2.

  • 16x9 Image

    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

XS
SM
MD
LG