Chinese authorities have quarantined the city of Wuhan to stop the spread of the Coronavirus with all departing flights cancelled from Wuhan Tianhe Airport, as well as trains and other forms of mass transportation from 1000L on January 23. The virus has left 26 people dead with more than 800 confirmed cases of the infection reported so far.
During a press conference held by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, which was released on the Chinese government's website on January 23, Spokesperson Geng Shuang said: "This morning, Wuhan City's new coronavirus-infected pneumonia epidemic prevention and control headquarters issued a notice that the city's urban bus, subway, ferry, and long-distance passenger transport were suspended; for no special reason, citizens should not leave Wuhan, and the airport and train station leaving the Han corridor are temporarily closed."
Lockdown measures are also spreading across China's Hubei Province with five other provincial cities - namely Huanggang, Ezhou, Xiantao, Chibi, and Lichuan seeing transport closures. However, according to the ch-aviation schedules module, none of these cities have airports with commercial flights.
The top three airlines in Wuhan in terms of weekly capacity are China Southern Airlines (CZ, Guangzhou), with 30% of seats, China Eastern Airlines (MU, Shanghai Hongqiao), with 20% of seats and Air China (CA, Beijing Capital) with 9% of seats. Total weekly seats from the airport number over 357,000 and over 2,100 weekly frequencies.
While the airport is closed and all flights are cancelled for the short-term, many carriers have been making statements with regards to their respective services to the Chinese city. Cathay Dragon (Hong Kong International) has stated that it will not fly to Wuhan between January 24 and February 29. In its press release, the airline stated: "We are monitoring the situation closely and will continue to coordinate with the health authorities in Hong Kong and in all the ports to which we operate flights."
Scoot (TR, Singapore Changi), which flies to Wuhan daily, has issued a similar statement on its website. "Due to the outbreak of a new coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, China, the Chinese authorities have implemented a temporary suspension of all public transportation networks in the city. Consequently, Scoot’s flights between Singapore and Wuhan will be affected." It has cancelled its flights to the Chinese city until February 2.
Similar travel advisory statements and flights cancellations have been formally issued by China Airlines (CI, Taipei Taoyuan), which flies from Taipei Taoyuan 2x weekly, as well as AirAsia (AK, Kuala Lumpur International) and Thai AirAsia (FD, Bangkok Don Mueang) which offer links from Kota Kinabalu, Phuket and Bangkok Don Mueang.
South Korean airline t'way Air (TW, Daegu) postponed the launch of its 2x weekly service from Seoul Incheon to Wuhan, which was planned to start on January 21, ch-aviation analysis of Flightradar24 ADS-B data has revealed. Korean Air's flight on the same city pair on January 22 was operated, however, its flight on January 24 has been cancelled.
On January 23, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) ordered all airlines to waive their cancellation fees for travel to and from Wuhan.
"The Civil Aviation Administration requires that from 0000L on January 24, 2020, passengers who have previously purchased civil aviation tickets and have voluntarily refunded their tickets should be refunded free of charges and fees by each airline and its ticket sales agency," the CAAC said.
