Todd Bishop
In response to the ongoing pneumonia epidemic in Wuhan, British Airways announced on January 29 that it will immediately suspend all direct flights to and from mainland China.
British Airways issued a statement via email apologizing to customers for the inconvenience, stressing that the safety of customers and crew is paramount and that passengers planning to travel to China in the coming days can find more information on the website.
According to the website, direct flights from London to Beijing and Shanghai are not available for booking in January and February. However, passengers can still book flights that require connecting flights, and some flights departing from London are transferred to Beijing or Shanghai via Hong Kong.
The British Foreign Office now lists China as a yellow warning, Call on citizens to avoid traveling to China unless necessary, but excluding Hong Kong and Macau. Hubei Province is a red warning, suggesting that it is not advisable to go and leave at a hurry. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs pointed out that as Chinese authorities continue to strengthen traffic control within the country, it may be more difficult to leave the country in the next few weeks, calling on citizens who want to leave in the near future to take immediate action.
