Air Canada among airlines cancelling flights to China over coronavirus fears
Credit to Author: Tiffany Crawford| Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2020 16:23:56 +0000
If you have a trip to China from Vancouver International Airport, you may want to check your flight status as more airlines are cancelling flights because of the coronavirus outbreak, which has caused the deaths of more than 100 people in China.
Air Canada and Cathay Pacific, which both have flights to and from China out of YVR, are cancelling select flights.
Air Canada said, in an emailed statement, that it was cancelling some of its 33 flights a week to China from Canada in response to the “coronavirus situation,” but did not provide detailed information on which flights were being cancelled, or how many out of Vancouver were affected.
The company said customers who are affected will be notified and provided with alternate travel options.
“We continue to monitor the situation closely and will adjust accordingly,” Air Canada’s statement said.
Meantime, The Associated Press reports that British Airways has halted all flights to China and American Airlines suspended flights to and from Shanghai and Beijing. Also cancelling or reducing the number of flights are Air India, Seoul Air, Indonesia’s Lion Air, Finnair, Cathay Pacific, and Singapore-based Jetstar Asia.
AP said Wednesday that the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus jumped to 5,974, surpassing the 5,327 in mainland China from SARS. The virus has killed more than 130 people.
B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry confirmed on Tuesday the province had recorded its first probable case.
It’s a man in his 40s who lives in Metro Vancouver and who last week returned from a China business trip, which he spent mostly in Wuhan. It will take 48 hours for tests to confirm the diagnosis. The man is recovering at home where he voluntarily isolated himself, said Henry. No other family members are showing symptoms.
ticrawford@postmedia.com