China Eastern has suspended flights to and from the US due to the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, becoming the first major Chinese airline to do so.
China Eastern is canceling several flights to and from the US, including those form Shanghai to Los Angeles and New York because of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak. A notice to travel agents has been circulated by the Chinese carrier.
While these flights have only been suspended from February 2 through February 10, they are unavailable to book on China Eastern's website until March 29. The airline is also canceling several flights to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Vancouver, Canada, from Chengdu or Kunming.
Layovers in Nanjing or Qingdao have also been canceled this week. The notice stated: "In the days to come, China Eastern will pay close attention to the epidemic, and may further adjust the arrangements of flights."
Meanwhile, the country's two other major airlines, Air China and China Southern, have not announced anything yet. As of Monday, direct flights to the US were still available to book on their websites.
Shares in all three companies have fallen by about 10%, the daily maximum limit, in Shanghai while the wider market closed down by 8%.
Major international airlines have already announced suspensions of all flights to and from mainland China until the end of February or longer, including Air Canada, American Airlines, British Airways, Delta Airlines, Lufthansa and Qatar Airways.
British Airways announced the suspension in a statement released last week. In the statement, the British airline said: "We have suspended all flights to and from mainland China with immediate effect following advice from the Foreign Office against all but essential travel."
UK’s Foreign Office issued a warning against traveling to mainland China in all but essential cases.
The outbreak has resulted to the deaths of 361 people in China and infected 17,000 so far in China, with almost 180 cases in other countries, including the US, Germany and Japan.
