By Olivia Bugault

 

Major airlines have been 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.

Since the beginning of the outbreak, the virus has killed 170 people while affecting over 7,700, mainly in China.

 

BRITISH AIRWAYS: The carrier--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 routes to Hong Kong are maintained. The carrier said Thursday that flights were cancelled for a period of one month.

 

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.

 

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.

 

DELTA: U.S. legacy carrier Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) has decided to halve the number of weekly flights it operates between the U.S. and China, from 42 to 21, effective from Feb. 6 to April 30.

 

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.

 

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 as a top priority.

 
 

Among the other airlines that took measures, Indonesian low-cost airline Lion Air (LAIR.YY) 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. French carrier Air France--part of Air France-KLM (AF.FR)--has also grounded all flights to and from mainland China until Feb. 9.

 
 

Write to Olivia Bugault at olivia.bugault@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 30, 2020 10:43 ET (15:43 GMT)

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