Coronavirus: Qantas, Qatar Airways and Air New Zealand latest airlines to suspend flights to mainland
- Qantas has announced it is suspending flights to China by next week, citing travel restrictions imposed following the coronavirus outbreak
- Qatar Airways has also said it is suspending flights to the mainland due to ‘significant operational challenges’
Only a number of mostly Asian and Middle Eastern airlines were still flying to and from mainland China on Saturday, as a growing number of international air carriers cancel flights to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Chinese carriers are finding it increasingly difficult to fly internationally, with some countries like Vietnam and Italy imposing outright bans on flights from China and others like the United States, Singapore and Australia placing restrictions on citizens coming from the mainland.
As of Saturday 8 pm, at least 259 people have been killed by the disease and some 12,000 infected around the world, including 11,860 in mainland China, according to Chinese officials on Saturday.
Qantas announced on Saturday it would curtail its China flights by next week, citing restrictions on foreigners who had visited China over the past two weeks, which impacted its aircrew and their ability to work on other international routes – a quarter of which passed through Singapore and the US.
Qatar Airways also said on Saturday it was suspending flights to China from February 3 due to “significant operational challenges”.
Air New Zealand and Uzbekistan Airways were among the other airlines to close China routes, while Jetstar Asia said it would halt all flights to the country until March 31, having announced a suspension of some mainland routes last Wednesday.
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The US carriers cited concerns over the ongoing spread of the coronavirus, a drop in travel demand and the US advisory to “do not travel” to China as factors in stopping flights.
On Thursday, the US State Department elevated its China travel advisory to its highest warning.
A day earlier, British Airways became the first carrier to suspend all flights to mainland China after Britain’s Foreign Office advised residents to avoid travelling there.
Within days, Air France, KLM, Air Seoul, Lufthansa Group, Finnair, Air Canada, Indonesia’s Lion Air all joined in the suspension of their China routes entirely. Other airlines including Cathay Pacific, Turkish Airlines and Korean Air have reduced the numbers of flights. Iran also banned China flights.
At least seven national airlines in Africa – those of Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Madagascar, Egypt, Morocco and Mauritius – have also halted flights to mainland China indefinitely. Ethiopian Airlines said it would continue flying.
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Vietnam on Saturday lifted its ban on carriers flying from Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan, though a ban remains in place for flights from the mainland.
The pile up of flight cancellations from China has topped 10,000, according to aviation data company Cirium, which has tracked the number of scrapped flights between January 23-28. The cancellations amounted to 10.8 per cent of all scheduled flights.
Rahul Oberai, managing director for the Asia-Pacific at Cirium, said: “While the industry is playing its part to help prevent the spread of the virus, the outbreak will inevitably cause significant disruption of schedules and travel patterns in the short and medium term.
“The precedent of the SARS outbreak indicates to us that the underlying demand for travel driven by GDP growth will in time produce a robust recovery.”
By January 19, bookings were 7.3 per cent ahead of the equivalent new year period in 2019. A week later, bookings were 6.8 per cent behind the trend. Similarly for travel into China, bookings dropped 4.5 per cent, after being 7.2 per cent ahead.
