29th January, 2020
British Airways has announced a suspension of flights between the United Kingdom and China in light of the Coronavirus outbreak.
The airline released a statement on Wednesday morning, stating that all daily flights between Shanghai-Beijing and Heathrow, would be halted with immediate effect after the Foreign Office warned against ‘all but essential travel’ to the country because of the virus outbreak.
The statement read “We have suspended all flights to and from mainland China with immediate effect following advice from the Foreign Office against all but essential travel. We apologise to customers for the inconvenience, but the safety of our customers and crew is always our priority. Customers due to travel to or from China in the coming days can find more information on ba.com.”
The new deadly virus “coronavirus” originated in mainland China recently, and has found its way to the shores of the United States. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), confirmed the development in a statement on its website on Tuesday.
It said the virus had been diagnosed in a traveler, who arrived in Washington on Jan. 15 from the Chinese city of Wuhan, where it broke out in December.