SEOUL, 04 Feb (Yonhap) – The appearance and spread of the potentially deadly new coronavirus has disrupted 65% of flights to China by South Korean airlines, industry officials said on Tuesday.
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As of yesterday, industry leader Korean Air Lines Co. and seven other airlines had temporarily suspended 41 out of 100 routes to China for fear of an epidemic.
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The airlines have also decided to reduce the number of flights on 24 routes serving Chinese cities including the capital, Beijing.
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Korean Air recently decided to temporarily stop eight out of 31 routes to China and reduce the number of flights out of 14.
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Asiana Airlines Inc., the second largest local airline, meanwhile suspended four routes and reduced the number of flights on eight others.
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Three South Korean low-cost airlines, Air Seoul Inc., Eastar Jet and Jin Air, have interrupted a total of 11 routes to China.
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Air Busan Co., another low-cost airline, has decided to suspend seven out of nine routes, reducing the number of flights on a route. Jeju Air has suspended all seven of its routes to China while T’way has suspended flights on five of six routes.
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The disruption in air services comes as concerns continue to grow over the spread of the virus from the Chinese city of Wuhan.
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South Korea has so far reported 16 confirmed cases of the virus while the death toll in China has reached more than 420.
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On Tuesday, South Korea imposed a temporary entry ban on foreigners who have visited Hubei Province in the past two weeks to prevent the possible spread of the coronavirus.
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Seoul is also considering expanding the scope of the “recommended withdrawal” alert to all of China. Currently, the withdrawal recommendation, the second highest alert level on a scale of four, was applied only to Hubei Province.
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In this context, industry observers believe that South Korean airlines could continue to suspend or further reduce their flights to China.
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By calling on the government to support the struggling industry, airlines fear that the industry will suffer more damage from the new coronavirus crisis than that caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus in 2003.
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