British Airways
British Airways to cancel some flights to and from Italy, Singapore and South Korea over the coronavirus. Credit: Jon Osborne.

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UK flag carrier British Airways has decided to cut down flights to Seoul, South Korea, as the coronavirus (Covid-19) continues to spread.

The airline has also reduced capacity on Italian routes by cancelling flights and aircraft gauge change.

The virus outbreak is the primary reason for the decision, as it has affected demand on Asian and European routes.

It also noted that corporate travel restrictions and cancelled industry events have also weakened business travel, thus impacting its network.

The carrier will reduce its daily services to Seoul to three to four times a week, as well as implement further capacity reductions in Italy in the next few days.

British Airways’ wider short-haul network will also see low capacity.

These initiatives will be effective from next month. The company had already suspended flights to mainland China and Hong Kong.

Daily and weekly flights to Beijing, Shanghai and Iberia were suspended in January.

In a statement, British Airways owner IAG said: “Our operating companies will continue to take mitigating actions to better match supply to demand in line with the evolving situation. Cost and revenue initiatives are being implemented across the business.

“Given the ongoing uncertainty on the potential impact and duration of Covid-19, it is not possible to give accurate profit guidance for FY2020 at this stage.”

Meanwhile, UK low-cost carrier easyJet has announced a significant reduction in demand into and out of its northern Italian bases. The airline is planning to suspend some flights, particularly to Italy.

As of the end of 27 February, the death toll from the Covid-19 has exceeded 2,850 while the total number of infections has reached approximately 83,300 worldwide.