Airlines scramble to cancel China flights as virus spreads

Singapore

AIRLINES across the globe suspended more flights to China as governments tightened up on travel to help stop the spread of the deadly Wuhan virus.

British Airways halted daily flights to Beijing and Shanghai from London's Heathrow airport, after UK officials advised against non-essential travel.

Finnish airline Finnair said on Jan 28 that it would suspend its flights to Nanjing and Beijing until the end of March,

Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways said it would cut capacity to China by 50 per cent or more starting Thursday, in another blow to a carrier already under strain from protests in Hong Kong.

United Airlines said it was suspending 24 US flights to Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai between Feb 1 and Feb 8 because of a significant drop in demand.

Governments have stepped up efforts to stop the spread of the disease as clusters of the infection began cropping up in countries outside China, including Germany. That has caused airlines, which had already pulled back from Wuhan, to place other Chinese destinations off limits. Wuhan's airport handles about 25 million passengers a year.

The number of confirmed cases in China soared to 5,974 - overtaking the country's official count of Sars patients - while 132 people were reported to have died of the coronavirus.

Germany said on Tuesday that it identified a cluster of local patients infected by a woman from Shanghai who had been visiting Europe, a worrying sign as it suggests the potential for additional spread outside China.

The increased alarm has already had an effect on travel within China during the Chinese New Year holiday season. Domestic travel on railways, road, water and airplanes in China fell 7.4 per cent between Jan 10 and Jan 28, People's Daily reported, citing the Ministry of Transport.

Low-cost carrier Jetstar Asia has suspended flights to three out of the five Chinese cities it flies to, as well as ticket sales for its Singapore-Hong Kong route.

Indonesian airline Lion Air Group will suspend all flights to China from February.

Several South Korean carriers have also halted flights to Chinese cities, including Air Seoul, Asiana Airlines Inc, Jeju Air Co and Jin Air Co.

Bloomberg Intelligence analysts James Teo and Chris Muckensturm said China Southern Airlines Co could face the biggest blow among the country's "big three" carriers as it controls 30 per cent of Wuhan's seat capacity, with routes to and from the capital of Hubei province accounting for 3.6 per cent of its seats. That compares with 1.5 per cent for Air China Ltd, which is also vulnerable, the analysts wrote in a report.

Passenger traffic at airlines such as Cathay and China Southern plunged 32-37 per cent in the first half of 2003 because of the Sars pandemic, Mr Teo and Mr Muckensturm added.

This time, "international airports' swift implementation of preventative measures can help blunt the impact", they said.