Indian airlines have begun to suspend flights to Hong Kong in the light of the coronavirus outbreak. Government operated Air India on Tuesday announced that it will be suspending travel operations to and from Hong Kong starting February 7.
“#FlyAI : Air India is suspending its operations to HongKong in view of the #coronovirus situation after flying AI314 on 7th February, 2020 from Delhi to Hongkong and AI315 from Hongkong to Delhi on 8th February. Please contact customer care for further assistance in this regard,” the airline tweeted.
Air India had already cancelled some flights to Shanghai before the announcement. Previously, IndiGo had suspended some flights to Mainland China, including flights to and from Chengdu. till February 20. The airline had also suspended the Bengaluru-Hong Kong flight from February 1.
In another instance, GoAir had officially announced a full waiver on cancellation and rescheduling fees for customers flying to and from Singapore, Bangkok and Phuket until February 29. IndiGo has also offered a similar waiver up to February 24 for its flights operating to and from China.
SpiceJet flights operating
SpiceJet is the only remaining Indian carrier operating flights to and from Hong Kong. The airline will continue with its Hong Kong operations, according to an Economic Times report.
The government has also issued multiple travel advisories to curb the effects of the outbreak. It has suspended travel on e-visas for Chinese residents due to the recent developments.
“In addition, MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) has issued an advisory: Due to current developments, travel to India on e-visas stands temporarily suspended with immediate effect. This applies to holders of Chinese passports and applicants of other nationalities residing in the People’s Republic of China,” an official release by the Press Information Bureau read.
Global suspensions
American Airlines, one of the biggest airlines in the US, had suspended services to Hong Kong. Following suit, United Airlines on Tuesday announced that it would suspend its Hong Kong operations starting February 8.
Hong Kong on Tuesday reported its first death caused by the virus. So far, 20,438 confirmed cases of the virus have been reported, with the death toll in China alone being 424.
Two Air India flights -- on January 31 and February 1-- had evacuated more than 600 Indian nationals from Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak. Currently, India has reported three confirmed cases of coronavirus, all in Kerala.