- US airlines are cutting services to Asian cities outside of China as coronavirus spreads across national boundaries.
- Delta Air Lines and Hawaiian Airlines were the first to suspend routes and reduce frequencies to Seoul, South Korea.
- United Airlines announced Friday it would suspend certain routes to Tokyo while reducing frequencies and downgrading planes on other routes to Asian cities.
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As the novel coronavirus continues to show little regard for international borders, US airlines are beginning to greatly scale back their services abroad.
While all US carriers have pulled back from China including the mainland and Hong Kong, airlines are now beginning to cut services on routes that don’t touch Chinese territory, including routes to Europe.
Delta Air Lines started the trend when it suspended service between Minneapolis and Seoul while reducing frequencies from its other Asian gateways in the US. Hawaiian Airlines came soon after, suspending its Honolulu-Seoul route until the end of April.
With low demand greatly affecting international travel, air routes to non-affected countries are slowly starting to be impacted with service suspensions, reduced frequencies, or downgraded aircraft.
Here's the list of airlines minimizing their global footprint in the wake of the expanded coronavirus outbreak in the Eastern Hemisphere.
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines was the first US airline to suspend an international route to Asia outside of China when it announced service would be suspended between Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Seoul until the end of April on Wednesday. The move came as South Korea saw a rapid increase in the number of coronavirus cases being reported and many foreign carriers began suspending service to the country.
Delta still operates flights to Seoul from its other US gateways including Atlanta, Seattle, and Detroit, but will do so five times weekly until April 30. The airline also had planned to launch service between Manila, Philippines, and Seoul at the end of March but is pushing that until May.
With concerns about the virus spreading throughout northern Italy, Delta also suspended its New York-Milan route until May, according to a news release issued by the airline. The airline's year-round service to Rome from New York has also been reduced to five times weekly until the end of April, with the airline suspending the Atlanta-Rome route during that time period as well.
Seasonal services to Venice from New York and to Rome from Detroit have also been pushed back until May, the airline announced.
Delta also announced on Monday it would be waiving change fees to all destinations for existing tickets booked before March 9 for travel up to April 30. The move is in addition to waiving change fees for future bookings.
Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines became the second US-flagged airline to suspend service to Asia following the spread of coronavirus outside of China. The airline is temporarily suspending its Honolulu-Seoul route from March 2 until the end of April.
The Honolulu-Seoul route is one of the most popular links between Hawaii and Asia, with numerous carriers competing for customers. Hawaiian Airlines is the only US airline to offer service on it, competing against Korea's top carriers among others.
United Airlines
United Airlines became the third US carrier to suspend routes outside of Chinese territory on Friday when it announced that numerous routes to Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan would be suspended or see reduced service, according to a media release sent to Business Insider.
The airline is suspending service from both Los Angeles and Houston to Tokyo's Narita Airport from March 8 until April 24 and Chicago and Tokyo's Narita Airport from March 8 until March 27. Service to Tokyo's Haneda Airport, which is expected to see new routes from scores of foreign airlines at the end of March, is unaffected.
Other routes to Asia will see reduced service or aircraft downgrades until the end of August including Newark-Tokyo, Honolulu-Tokyo, San Francisco-Kansai, San Francisco-Singapore, San Francisco-Seoul, and San Francisco-Taipei.
United later announced it will be reducing its domestic flying schedule by 10% in addition to reducing its international schedule by 20%. The carrier is the first major US legacy carrier to cut domestic services due to the spread of coronavirus.
American Airlines
American Airlines became the first US airline to suspend service on a route between the US and Europe on Saturday when it announced that flights to Milan would be canceled until April 25, according to an airline news release. American serves Milan, Italy's economic and fashion hub, from New York and Miami, and has issued a travel waiver for numerous Italian cities as far south as Naples, Italy.
The airline later joined its competitors in reducing flights to Asia as American announced it would be suspending service to Seoul, South Korea from its Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas hub from March 4 to April 25. Seoul-Dallas is American Airlines' only route to South Korea and Korean Air will now be the only airline to serve the route in American's absence.
JetBlue Airways
JetBlue Airways will be reducing capacity across its network by 5% to account for reduced demand following the spread of coronavirus, the airline confirmed to Business Insider in an email. The 20-year-old airline's operations are mainly centered on the East Coast where reports of the virus have been low but slowly increasing.
The airline did not release additional information as of Thursday regarding which routes will be affected.
Sun Country Air
Sun Country Air will be trimming its spring flying schedule in response to the reduced demand caused by the spread of coronavirus, the airline confirmed to Business Insider in an email. Routes across the airline's network will see reductions while three routes from Portland, Oregon to Honolulu, San Francisco, and Las Vegas will be suspended.
The reduction comes at a time when Sun Country is positioning itself to expand beyond its Minneapolis hub to become a major player in the ultra-low-cost industry dominated by Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines.