Reuters
Passengers leave LAX after arriving from Shanghai, China
- Airlines around the world are canceling or cutting their flights to China until as late as March amid the outbreak of coronavirus.
- American and European airlines largely make up the list of airlines that have canceled flights, including US carriers United and American.
- Air travel is one of the quickest spreaders of disease since aircraft fly all over the world, especially from an economic hub such as China.
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As the number of people infected with coronavirus around the world grows, airlines around the world have begun preemptively canceling or reducing flights to China, where the virus was first discovered.
The reasoning for doing so is a mix of reduced demand of visitors to the country and fear of the virus spreading, with numerous cities outside of China already reporting cases of the virus.
European, American, and some Asian airlines largely make up the list of those reducing service or canceling flights to mainland China outright until the virus is under control. Beijing and Shanghai are among cities most affected, with some airlines going as far as to cut service to Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous region of the country.
Those airlines not canceling services to the country are typically making up for it by offering travel waivers that allow customers to change or cancel flights without a fee. Most airlines are offering changes for those traveling on flights up to the end of February.
The cancellations are extended on some airlines to as far away as the end of March, with the US government still deciding on whether it wants to ban flights between the US and China.
Here's a list of airlines that have canceled flights to China.