Sharp decline in demand causes United Airlines to suspend flight to China.
The United States warned that Americans should reconsider visiting China, while Britain advised against all but essential travel to mainland China. South Korea also advised its citizens to stay away. Europe’s biggest bank, HSBC Holdings PLC, banned all staff travel to Chinese-ruled Hong Kong for two weeks and to mainland China until further notice, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.
South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc said it was urging employees to avoid all non-essential travel to China, while banking group Standard Chartered PLC restricted travel to both mainland China and Hong Kong. South Korean budget carrier Air Seoul said it will halt all flights to China, while Taiwan’s China Airlines Ltd rescheduled and cancelled some flights to China to Feb 10.Air Canada said it was cancelling some of its 33 weekly flights to China, and Germany’s Lufthansa pointed to subdued bookings to and from the country.