Several major airlines have cancelled or reduced services to mainland China as health officials confirmed the deadly coronavirus has now spread to all regions in the country.
The death toll from the outbreak has risen to 170, with more than 7,700 confirmed cases in China as of 29 January. There are also confirmed cases in at least 15 other countries, including France and Germany.
According to the BBC, the World Health Organisation (WHO) will meet again later today to determine whether the coronavirus constitutes a global health emergency.
Korean Air has today become one of the latest carriers around the world to cancel or reduce services to China, announcing it would not operate its flights between Incheon and Wuhan (pictured) – where the coronavirus originated – until 27 March. It will also suspend or reduce the frequency of services to several other routes in China due to falling demand in the wake of the outbreak.
British Airways has suspended all flights to and from Beijing and Shanghai until at least 31 January, though it has warned passengers that its schedule to the mainland will remain under review as the situation develops.
American Airlines has cancelled flights between Los Angeles and both Shanghai and Beijing from 9 February until 27 March, though it will continue its service to Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Asiana Airlines has cancelled flights between Incheon and Haikou from 2 February to 1 March and between Seoul and both Guilin and Changsha from 2 February until 28 March.
Cathay Pacific is reducing its capacity to and from mainland China by 50 per cent from 30 January until the end of March, while Lufthansa Group’s airlines have suspended all flights to and from Beijing through 9 February. Air Canada has suspended all direct flights to Beijing and Shanghai until 29 February.
Meanwhile, Air France is operating a reduced service to Beijing and Shanghai this week, while United Airlines has reduced its frequency to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong from its hubs in San Francisco, Newark, Chicago and Washington Dulles until 8 February.
KLM has axed flights to Chengdu and Hangzhou, with its service to Xiamen due to be cut from 31 January. It is also reducing its weekly service to Shanghai to seven flights, alongside seven weekly flights to Beijing. All changes are in effect until 29 February.
Finnair has reduced the frequency of flights to Beijing and cancelled services to Nanjing. It is also allowing any passenger due to fly to mainland China or Hong Kong until the end of February to change or cancel their flights.
According to Business Travel News, several media reports say president Donald Trump is also considering restricting all flights between the US and China.
Meanwhile, the UK government has said the flights it arranged to take British citizens out of Wuhan today have been delayed because the relevant permissions from Chinese authorities did not come through. These citizens are expected to be placed into quarantine for two weeks after leaving the area to avoid the risk of the virus spreading during its incubation period.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has advised against all but essential travel to China, while authorities in the country have severely restricted travel within the mainland.