Airlines Suspend Flights to China as Coronavirus Spreads -- Update

(Update includes Singapore Airlines, Finnair, KLM and updated figures on coronavirus)

By Olivia Bugault

More major airlines around the world are reducing or grounding flights to mainland China as the number of people infected by the coronavirus in the country keeps growing, surpassing that of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, nearly two decades ago.

Shares in airlines worldwide have been hit by the coronavirus health crisis, which will likely dent their revenues.

The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a public-health emergency of international concern on Thursday, as the death toll has increased to 213 people while almost 10,000 persons are infected, mainly in China.

DELTA: U.S. legacy carrier Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) said Friday that it will temporarily suspend all U.S. flights to China from Feb. 6 through April 30 due to the coronavirus outbreak.

AIR CANADA: Canadian flag carrier Air Canada (AC.T) has cancelled its direct flights to Beijing and Shanghai as of Jan. 30 and until Feb. 29, a decision that followed a Canadian government advisory to avoid non-essential travel to mainland China.

AMERICAN AIRLINES: U.S. carrier American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL) has suspended its Shanghai and Beijing services from Los Angeles from Feb. 9 to March 27, citing declining demand, but will keep flying between Dallas-Fort Worth and China.

IAG: British Airways--owned by International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG.LN)--was the first global airline to announce on Wednesday that it was suspending all its flights to mainland China, while maintaining routes to Hong Kong. The carrier said Thursday that flights were cancelled for a period of one month. IAG's Spanish carrier Iberia has also canceled its flights to China until the end of February.

SINGAPORE AIRLINES: Singapore Airlines Ltd. (C6L.SG) said Friday that flights on dozens of routes to and from China will be canceled through the end of February.

LUFTHANSA: The German carrier has grounded flights to the country until Feb. 9. The group "offers a total of 54 regular weekly connections from Germany, Switzerland and Austria to the Chinese mainland," Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA.XE) said Wednesday.

SAS: Scandinavian airline SAS AB (SAS.SK) said all flights to and from Shanghai and Beijing will be suspended from Friday until Feb. 9, citing the safety of its passengers and employees.

Among the numerous other airlines that took measures, Indonesian low-cost airline Lion Air has stopped its routes to and from mainland China, while Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. (0293.HK) has been cutting back capacity to manage a drop-off in demand. In Europe, Air France-KLM (AF.FR) and Finnair Oyj (FIA1S.HE) have also grounded their flights.

Write to Olivia Bugault at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 31, 2020 11:08 ET (16:08 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.