Delta and American Airlines halt flights as U.S. warns travelers to avoid China — how airlines are responding to coronavirus

As U.S. government officials warned Americans to avoid all travel to China as the country grapples with a deadly coronavirus outbreak, a growing number of airlines and cruise lines are responding to travel restrictions.

Delta Air Lines

DAL, -2.38%

announced Friday that it would temporarily suspend all U.S. flights to China from Feb. 6 through April 30 over coronavirus concerns, with flights continuing to operate until Feb. 5. American Airlines

AAL, -3.17%

also said Friday that it would suspend flights to and from mainland China until March 27, following a lawsuit from the union representing the airline’s pilots that sought to halt U.S.-China flights.

Meanwhile, British Airways

IAG, -0.56%

said Wednesday it would temporarily suspend flights to and from Shanghai and Beijing and reassess the situation on Friday. Air Canada

AC, -1.34%

said it would halt all fights to Beijing and Shanghai from Jan. 30 to Feb. 29, after the Canadian government cautioned against non-essential travel.

United Airlines

UAL, -3.79%

suspended some flights between Feb. 1 and Feb. 8, citing a decline in demand for air travel to China. Cathay Pacific

293, +1.86%

, Finnair

FIA1S, -0.94%

, Air France

AF, -1.25%

and Lufthansa

LHA, -2.28%

have all either suspended or reduced flights to and from China.

Don’t miss: As coronavirus infections exceed 4,500, here’s how the illness has spread across the world so rapidly

The new coronavirus was first detected in China’s Wuhan City, a transportation and manufacturing hub, with cases later reported in the U.S. and several other countries including Thailand, Malaysia, Australia, Vietnam and Singapore. This strain of coronavirus had killed at least 213 people and infected 9,692 in China as of Thursday, Chinese officials said. Confirmed cases outside of China total 98, according to the World Health Organization, which declared the outbreak a global health emergency Thursday. Six U.S. cases have been confirmed.

What U.S. government agencies have told American travelers

“Do not travel to China due to the novel coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, China,” the State Department said in a travel advisory Thursday, noting that travelers should “be prepared for travel restrictions to be put into effect with little or no advance notice.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also advised travelers to avoid all nonessential travel to China.

China had earlier placed Wuhan and several surrounding cities under a travel ban that spanned air, rail and public transport. The country has also suspended all overseas tour group and package flight/hotel vacation packages.

Also see: Mayor of Wuhan, epicenter of coronavirus outbreak, says 5 million people left the city before travel restrictions were imposed

Airlines are responding with flight suspensions and change-fee waivers

Officials are screening travelers for the virus at the 20 major U.S. airports that receive 90% of air travelers from China, Vice President Mike Pence said this week. These screenings, which involve observing travelers for coronavirus symptoms, administering a questionnaire and taking their temperatures with a non-contact thermometer, are designed to identify sick people and educate travelers about the virus.

Several airlines are accommodating travelers who want to reschedule China-related travel plans. American Airlines said it would allow passengers who were traveling to, through or from Beijing or Shanghai and wanted to reschedule their trip to waive a change fee, given certain stipulations. The airline will also waive change fees for passengers who want to delay their trip up to a year from the original ticket date, with the possibility of paying a difference in fare.

Delta said it would waive change fees for passengers traveling to, through or from Beijing or Shanghai who made a one-time change to a different flight. Travelers can also cancel their trip and apply the unused value to a future flight for up to a year.

United Airlines also issued travel waivers in response to the outbreak, including refunds for unflown flights to Wuhan, and is waiving change fees for certain flights related to the Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai airports, with some restrictions. Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific

CPCAY, -1.56%

said it would waive rebooking, rerouting and refund charges for bookings to and from mainland China on certain conditions; German airline Lufthansa

DLAKY, -1.73%,

meanwhile, is allowing certain passengers free rebooking or refunds for their flights in and out of mainland China.

Some cruise lines are canceling trips

The cruise lines Costa Cruises, Royal Caribbean

RCL, -2.19%

and MSC Cruises have collectively canceled at least a dozen trips to and from China in response to the outbreak, according to a Monday roundup by the cruise-review site Cruise Critic, a subsidiary of TripAdvisor

TRIP, -3.15%.

Norwegian Cruise Line

NCLH, -1.73%

is reportedly also denying boarding to people who have traveled from Wuhan or been there in the past month, as well as to people embarking from Chinese ports who display a temperature of at least 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit on a non-touch temperature screening, according to Cruise Critic.

A number of Chinese tourist sites have temporarily closed

Several top historical and tourist attractions in China, including the Forbidden City, a stretch of the Great Wall of China near Beijing, Shanghai Disney Resort

DIS, +0.36%,

the National Library of China and the National Museum of China, have closed as officials try to stem the spread of coronavirus, The Wall Street Journal reported.

McDonald’s

MCD, -1.02%

has closed around 300 of its restaurants across China, the Guardian reported Wednesday. Starbucks

SBUX, -1.18%

, which extended its earlier Wuhan closings to all Hubei province stores, has shut half its stores in China, the BBC reported.

What to do if you have to travel to China

U.S. travelers who still must travel to China should discuss their travel plans with a health-care provider; avoid contact with people who are sick; stay away from dead or live animals, animal markets and animal products like raw meat; and frequently clean hands using soap and water (for at least 20 seconds) or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, the CDC said. Older travelers and those with underlying health problems could be at greater risk for disease, the agency added.

The CDC also offered guidance for people who had traveled to China in the past two weeks and had symptoms of cough, fever or difficulty breathing: Avoid contact with other people, call ahead to the doctor or emergency room and seek medical attention immediately, avoid travel, cover your nose and mouth area with a sleeve or tissue while sneezing or coughing, and practice frequent hand-washing.

Official recommendations could change at any time

There’s a lot that public-health officials still don’t know about this virus, and the CDC’s recommendations are likely to evolve quickly, Scott Weisenberg, a clinical associate professor of medicine and director of NYU gone Health’s travel medicine program, told MarketWatch earlier this week.

While officials’ efforts to control the virus’s spread will hopefully succeed, he added, it’s “too soon to say right now” whether that will be the case.

“Right now it’s very early in the course for this, so it’s unclear how contagious [this coronavirus] will be with routine public-health measures that China and other countries are applying,” Weisenberg said.

This story was originally published Jan. 28, 2020, and has been updated.

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