An increasing number of international airlines, and even governments, are suspending some or all of their flights to mainland China, over fears that the Coronavirus could spread.
On Wednesday, British Airways became the first major international airline to temporarily stop flying to its Chinese destinations, excluding Hong Kong. This came after the UK’s Foreign Office advised against all but essential travel to the country. It was followed by the Lufthansa Group, including Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian Airlines, which will halt all flight connections to mainland China starting Thursday. The stop will last until at least February 9. New bookings are even suspended until the end of February. Combined, the Lufthansa Group airlines operate 54 weekly flights to China.
Low-cost carriers Lion Air and Air Seoul also confirmed a halt of their flights to the country on that day.
Several hours later, Air Canada announced a suspension of its China flights, again excepting Hong Kong, until February 29. The Canadian flag-carrier operates five routes to the country, all operated by Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. Beijing and Shanghai are its only two destinations, which are both served from hubs Vancouver and Toronto. Furthermore, the airline flies from Montreal to Shanghai.
Passengers receive the offer to change flights onto a different airline or request a full refund free of charge.
On Thursday, more and more airlines joined the list of carriers that temporarily stop all their flights to China (see full list further down).
In addition to that, many airlines have suspended some, but not all, routes or have reduced frequencies. This is to lower risks or simply because of dropping demand. These include United Airlines, American Airlines, Finnair, Air Asia and Air India (see full list further down). Air Tanzania has reportedly pushed back the inaugural flights on its first ever route connecting China.
The so-called Coronavirus is the reason behind this mass cancellation of travel option to China. The virus was first identified in Wuhan, a city of 11 million, in the province of Hubei. In response, the Chinese government started a mass quarantine by shutting down transport to and from the Wuhan area, including the airport.
On Tuesday, Hong Kong’s government had announced that all four airlines from the country have to gradually reduce the total number of daily flights to China by half.
A day later, Kazakhstan, which shares a border with China, said that it would cut all transportation links to its neighbor, starting February 3, affecting Air Astana and SCAT Airlines.
The Italian government announced on Thursday, after the first two cases of Coronavirus were confirmed in the country, to halt all flights between China, Hong Kong and Taiwan and Italy, affecting mostly Chinese airlines as well as Italian leisure and charter airline Neos. Flag-carrier Alitalia currently does not operate flights to China.
On Friday, the Iranian government announced a similar action, suspending all flights between its country and China.
This was followed by Vietnam, which banned flights to and from China until May. Vietnam initially also suspended air traffic to Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, however, this was later adjusted.
Meanwhile, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Israel banned all non-residents with recent travel history to mainland China from entering. The Philippines are enforcing the same, but currently including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan for reasons unclear.
Developing list of airlines that have announced to temporarily suspended all flights to mainland China:
- Air Astana
from February 3 indefinitely, following government decision, bookings currently closed until October 23 - Air Canada
until February 29 - Air France
until February 9 - Air New Zealand
from February 9 until March 29 - Air Seoul
indefinitely - American Airlines
until March 27
- Austrian Airlines
until February 29 - Azerbaijan Airlines
until March 7 (airline claims not connected to virus) - Azur Air
indefinitely, following government decision - British Airways
until February 29 - Cebu Pacific
until March 29 - Delta Air Lines
until April 30 - Egyptair
from February 4 - El Al Israel Airlines
until March 25 - Finnair
from February 6 until February 29
- Iberia
until February 29 (expected) - IndiGo
from February 6 - IrAero Airlines
indefinitely, following government decision - Jetstar Asia Airways
until March 31 - Jetstar Pacific
until May 1, following government decision - Kenya Airways
indefinitely, did not operate non-stop to China - KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
until February 9 - Lion Air
indefinitely - LOT Polish Airlines
until February 9 - Lufthansa
until February 29
- Mahan Air
indefinitely, following government decision - Neos
indefinitely, following government decision - Norwind Airlines
indefinitely, following government decision - Oman Air
indefinitely - Philippines AirAsia
until March 1 - Qantas
from February 9 (possibly earlier) until March 29 - Qatar Airways
from February 3 indefinitely - Royal Air Maroc
until February 29 - Royal Flight Airlines
indefinitely, following government decision - RwandAir
indefinitely, did not operate non-stop to China - Saudi Arabian Airlines
indefinitely - SAS Scandinavian Airlines
until February 9, bookings closed until February 29 - SCAT Airlines (charter)
from February 3 indefinitely, following government decision
- Scoot
from February 8 - Swiss International Airlines
until February 29 - S7 Airlines
indefinitely, following government decision - Thai Smile Airways
until February 29 - Turkish Airlines
until February 9 - Turkmenistan Airlines
indefinitely - United Airlines
from February 6 until March 28 - Ural Airlines
indefinitely, following government decision - VietJet Air
indefinitely - Vietnam Airlines
until May 1, following government decision - Virgin Atlantic
until February 14
Developing list of airlines that are undertaking a temporary reduction or cancellation of some flights to mainland China (by country):
- Hong Kong: Cathay Pacific, Cathay Dragon, Hong Kong Airlines, Hong Kong Express
- Macau: Air Macau
- United States: UPS Airlines
- South Korea: Asiana Airlines, Eastar Jet, Jeju Air, Korean Air
- Taiwan: China Airlines, EVA Air
- Philippines: Philippine Airlines
- Malaysia: AirAsia
- Singapore: Silk Air, Singapore Airlines
- Thailand: Thai Lion Air
- Myanmar: Air KBZ, Myanmar Airways International, Myanmar National Airlines
- India: Air India
- Russia: Aeroflot
- Ukraine: Ukraine International Airlines
- UAE: Emirates, Etihad Airways
- Tanzania: Air Tanzania (delayed launch)
Lists as of February 3rd. Information changes quickly and may in parts be obsolete. The second list excludes Wuhan routes, as all flights to the city were forced to be suspended.
Most other airlines are offering limited rebooking or refund options to passengers due to fly on a flight to or from China.
Jakob Wert is an aviation journalist from Germany. He built up the website IFN.news and is the Editor-In-Chief of International Flight Network.
