BA cancels string of transatlantic flights due to coronavirus: London to US routes are reduced due to lack of demand and short-haul flights drastically cut back
- British Airways has grounded 24 flights between Heathrow and New York
- Airline will waive flight-change fees for bookings within the next two weeks
- Most BA cancellations are flights between Heathrow and European countries
- Budget Ryanair is to cut flights in and out of Italy by 25 per cent for three weeks
British Airways has cancelled a string of transatlantic flights from London to America due to wide-spread coronavirus fears.
The airline says it is reducing the volume of flights because less people want to travel amid growing concerns about coronavirus – which has spread to 50 countries world wide.
BA has grounded 24 flights between Heathrow and New York’s JFK airport and will waive flight-change fees for people who book within the next two weeks, amid uncertainty about the spread of the virus.
British Airways has cancelled a string of transatlantic flights from London to America due to wide-spread coronavirus fears. Pictured: The virus has spread to 50 countries worldwide
The airline says it is reducing the volume of flights because less people want to travel amid growing concerns about coronavirus. Pictured: A traveller wears a surgical mask at LaGuardia Airport, New York
Most of the airline’s cancellations are for short-haul flights between Heathrow and Italy, France, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland and Switzerland.
Budget airline Ryanair is to cut flights in and out of Italy, its largest market, by 25 per cent for three weeks due to a drop in bookings since the coronavirus outbreak.
Italy is suffering the biggest outbreak of coronavirus in Europe with 1,694 confirmed cases and 34 deaths.
A British Airways spokesman said: ‘To match reduced demand due to the continuing coronavirus issue, we are merging a number of flights between March 16 and March 28.
BA has grounded 24 flights between Heathrow and New York’s JFK airport. Pictured: A man wears a mask in London’s Heathrow Airport
BA will waive flight-change fees for people who book within the next two weeks, amid uncertainty about the spread of the virus (stock image)
Budget airline Ryanair is to cut flights in and out of Italy, its largest market, by 25 per cent for three weeks. Pictured: A passenger wears a mask in arriving from Italy at Vnukovo International Airport, Russia
Most of BA’s cancellations are for short-haul flights between Heathrow and Italy, France, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland and Switzerland. Pictured: A woman wearing a face mask at Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport
‘We will be contacting customers on cancelled flights so we can discuss their travel options, including re-booking on to other carriers where possible, full refunds, or booking with BA for a later date of travel.’
The Irish airline said it did not expect the cancellations to have a material impact in its current financial year, which ends on March 31, and said it was ‘far too early to speculate’ on the impact of the virus on next year’s results.
EasyJet and Wizz also announced cancellations in the wake of disruption from the outbreak.
Chief Executive Michael O’Leary said: ‘We will make sensible cuts to our schedules over the comings weeks to reflect weaker bookings and changing travel patterns.
A Heathrow Terminal 2 airport staff member wore rubber gloves and a face mask as he greeted passengers arriving for the Air China flight to Beijing on Saturday
‘This is a time for calm.’
The virus is likely, however, to result in the failure of more European airlines in the coming weeks, he said.
There have been a string of European airline collapses since 2017 that have left thousands of passengers stranded and had a knock-on effect on related industries such as hospitality.
Ryanair’s European shares ended trading on Monday down 5 per cent at 11.4 euros, or a drop of 29 per cent from their 2020 peak of 16.07 euros hit on January 10.
Analysts said they expected Ryanair to hit its target for profit in the current financial year of between 950 million and 1.05 billion euros but all bets were off thereafter because of coronavirus.