Lufthansa and Swiss cut flights to China until 28

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02/03/2020

Lufthansa and its subsidiaries Swiss and Austrian Airlines have extended the end of their flights to and from China until February 28, due to the spread of the coronavirus.

Swiss has cut flights to Beijing and Shanghai until this date. The deletion is “until March 28” for Nanjing, Shenyang and Qingdao, the group said in a statement on Monday.

The suspension, announced by Lufthansa in late January, was originally scheduled to end on February 9.

“The safety of our passengers is our priority,” insists the group, which states that it has carried out a “thorough analysis of all the information currently available” to make its decision.

Flights to Hong Kong will continue to operate, the company said.

Each week, Lufthansa and its subsidiaries offer a total of 54 connections from Germany, Switzerland and Austria to China, and 19 to Hong Kong.

The new Chinese coronavirus, which appeared at the end of 2019 in the Wuhan region, in central China, continues to develop, with 362 deaths recorded and more than 17,200 infections, in nearly 24 countries.

A dozen airlines, like Air France, British Airways or Iberia, have also suspended their flights to China for several weeks to stem the epidemic.

ats, awp, afp

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