Airlines suspend, scale back direct flights to China amid virus fears
30 January, 2020
Global airlines on Wednesday (Jan 29) continued to suspend or scale back direct flights to China's major cities amid an increase in travel warnings and decline in demand from passengers over the coronavirus.
Fears over the spread of the flu-like virus, which originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, are increasing as the death toll rose to 133.
The virus appears to represent the biggest epidemic threat to the airline industry since the SARS outbreak, which at its peak in April 2003 led to a 45 per cent plunge in passenger demand in Asia, analysts said.
British Airways said it suspended all direct flights to and from mainland China.
BA.com, the airline's website, shows no direct flights to mainland China are available to book in January or February, but the airline said in an email that the cancellations were in effect until Jan 31 while it assesses the situation.
Indonesia's Lion Air Group, Southeast Asia's biggest carrier by fleet size, said it is halting all flights to and from China starting Feb 1.
Jetstar Asia said it would temporarily suspend services to Hefei, Guiyang and Xuzhou until Mar 31 "when the situation will be reviewed again".
Its last flights to Hefei, Guiyang and Xuzhou will operate on Thursday.
Jetstar also said on Wednesday it was suspending the sale of flights from Singapore to Hong Kong, with the last flight set for Mar 28, but said this was unrelated to the coronavirus outbreak and instead due to "ongoing falling demand".
Air Canada, which planned earlier this week to cancel just a select number of its 33 weekly flights to China, said on Wednesday that it would suspend all direct flights to Beijing and Shanghai.
The suspension, from Jan 30 to Feb 29, came after the government of Canada updated its travel advisory urging its citizens to avoid nonessential travel to China.
American Airlines Group said on Wednesday it would suspend flights from Los Angeles to Beijing and Shanghai but continue flying from Dallas, and Delta Air Lines said it was halving its US-China schedule to about 21 weekly flights.
US officials said the White House had decided against suspending all flights to China for now, but that decision could be changed if warranted.
Among European carriers, Germany’s Lufthansa is suspending its own, Swiss and Austrian Airlines flights to and from China until Feb 9, while Air France said it would reduce its flight schedule to Beijing and Shanghai this week.
Iberia, part of the IAG group along with BA, said it was temporarily suspending all flights to Shanghai.
Asia-Pacific accounts for about 19 per cent of both Air France-KLM and Lufthansa's available seat kilometres and 8 per cent of IAG's in 2019, Goodbody analysts said.
Carriers, including Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways, are allowing their flight attendants to wear face masks and gloves on flights to protect against fears of contagion risks.
In response to CNA queries on Wednesday, Singapore Airlines said it has not cancelled any flights to China, but added that it will cease layovers for crew on flights to Beijing and Shanghai as a precautionary measure.
Flights to both cities will instead operate as a turnaround flights from 7.30am on Thursday (Jan 30), a Singapore Airlines spokesman said.
Wesley Lesosky, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees unit that represents Air Canada flight attendants, said by email that members have the option of wearing masks and gloves on flights to China.
But flight attendants remained "concerned with the effects the virus could have if contracted, how to recognise an infected passenger and how to deal with the nervous passengers onboard".
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