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Lufthansa Group has joined British Airways in its precautions against the Chinese coronavirus outbreak and similarly suspended flights to mainland China. It has halted all flights with its mainline carrier, as well as those of Swiss and Austrian Airlines, until Feb 9. Lufthansa operates to Beijing and Shanghai from Frankfurt and Munich, as well as to Shenyang, Nanjing and Qingdao from Frankfurt. Swiss and Austrian each fly to Beijing and Shanghai from their respective bases at Zurich and Vienna. Combined, the operators offer 54 weekly services to mainland China, outside of their 19 flights to Hong Kong. Acceptance of bookings for mainland China services has also been stopped until the end of February. <br/>

Air Canada is halting all direct flights to China following the federal govt’s advisory to avoid non-essential travel to the mainland due to the coronavirus epidemic. The suspension is effective Thursday and slated to last until Feb 29, Air Canada said. The airline runs 33 flights a week to Beijing and Shanghai. Earlier this week it began to cancel select flights as customers delayed trips and called off travel plans due to fears of the spreading epidemic. The carrier is also waiving rebooking fees for flights that go through a partner airline to the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus, until late March. Air Canada has seen its shares fall by about 10% since authorities confirmed Jan 20 the human-to-human transmission of the illness. <br/>