British Airways announced the suspension of flights to China on Wednesday as countries across the globe scrambled to contain the spread of coronavirus.

The airline said in an email that it has cancelled direct services to the Chinese mainland until 31 January while it monitors the situation. Flights to Hong Kong remain unaffected.

In a statement it said: "We apologize to customers for the inconvenience, but the safety of our customers and crew is always our priority." 

The carrier asked customers traveling to or from China to keep a tab on its website ba.com for more information.

Reports of people getting infected with the flu-like virus outside China have triggered global alarm with authorities including the UK Foreign Office issuing travel advisories to citizens. The death toll from the coronavirus, which originated in the central city of Wuhan, has risen to 132.

Spate of suspensions

BA's decision to halt flights comes amid a spate of similar suspensions. Germany's Lufthansa is pausing its own, Swiss and Austrian Airlines flights to and from China until 9 February. It will continue to fly to Hong Kong but will stop taking bookings to China's mainland until the end of next month. Finnish airline Finnair is to suspend flights to Nanjing and Beijing until the end of March. 

Several airlines based outside Europe have also suspended services, some citing safety concerns, others blaming significant drops in demand. 

The largest U.S. carrier, American Airlines, will drop flights from Los Angeles to Beijing and Shanghai from 9 February to 27 March, United is suspending 24 U.S. flights to Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai in the first week of February, and Air Canada is cancelling selected flights.

Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific will progressively reduce capacity to and from the Chinese mainland by at least half from 30 January to the end of March, while Indonesian group Lion Air is to suspend all flights to China from February. South Korean budget carrier Air Seoul will suspend all flights to China, Air India is shelving its Mumbai-Delhi-Shanghai flight for the first two weeks of February and Air Tanzania, which had planned to begin charter services to China next month, will now postpone those maiden flights. 

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