As almost all of you would have seen either on the TV or any electronic device, the Coronavirus has been growing and growing at a pretty scary rate. When these types of things happen to occur, travel to and from the origin of the virus is virtually cut off. Air travel is no exception.
The virus is believed to have originated in China, more specifically in Wuhan which has a population of over 11 million people. As the virus is spreading quickly, It was only a matter of time before travel started being reduced and in most cases, completely cut off altogether.
Air New Zealand will reduce its Shanghai service but will not cancel
Air New Zealand is the latest airline to announce an update to its China services, and it’s quite surprising to me. According to Airlineroute, the airline is set to reduce its services to Shanghai from 7 to 4 weekly and will come into effect on the 18th of February until March 31st. The route will continue to utilise their 787-9 fleet.
Air New Zealand Premium Economy
Now to me, that sounds pretty pointless. If the virus is spreading that quickly, wouldn’t be a more viable option to remove the route altogether until things can get under control?
As a reference guide, I’ve listed a small few airlines that have either adjusted their routes in and out of China or flat out removed them from the schedule.
Here is the list of airlines that have cancelled or adjusted services to and from China
- British Airways has cancelled all flights to China
- Austrian, Swiss & Lufthansa have ceased all routes to China
- United, Delta and American have been monitoring and are reducing services
- Qantas states their monitoring the situation yet haven’t released any other information asides from that
- ANA has cancelled Wuhun but is continuing other Chinese destinations that they serve
- JAL has also cancelled Wuhun but will be doing the same as ANA
Air New Zealand 787-9 Business Class
Overall
While I understand that the passenger traffic would be massively reduced during this time, how many people are still going to continue flying to China as this virus spreads. Yes, there will still be some passengers but is it enough to justify keeping the route alive? just seems odd to me.
I have quite a lot of upcoming travel soon, and it’s all in Asia. I, for one, aren’t too concerned as I’m not entering China; however, if you do have planned travel to China, I would probably think twice before going on your trip.