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.
