3 US airlines are canceling flights to global destinations outside of China as coronavirus spreads - here's the list

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3 US airlines are canceling flights to global destinations outside of China as coronavirus spreads - here's the list
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  • US airlines are cutting services to Asian cities outside of China as coronavirus spreads across national boundaries.
  • Delta Air Lines and Hawaiian Airlines were the first to suspend routes and reduce frequencies to Seoul, South Korea.
  • United Airlines announced Friday it would suspend certain routes to Tokyo while reducing frequencies and downgrading planes on other routes to Asian cities.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As the novel coronavirus continues to show little regard for international borders, US airlines are beginning to greatly scale back their services abroad.

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While all US carriers have pulled back from China including the mainland and Hong Kong, airlines are now beginning to cut services on routes that don't touch Chinese territory.

Delta Air Lines started the trend when it suspended service between Minneapolis and Seoul while reducing frequencies from its other Asian gateways in the US. Hawaiian Airlines came soon after, suspending its Honolulu-Seoul route until the end of April.

With low demand greatly affecting international travel, air routes to non-affected countries are slowly starting to be impacted with service suspensions, reduced frequencies, or downgraded aircraft.

Here's the list of airlines minimizing their global footprint in the wake of the expanded coronavirus outbreak in the Eastern Hemisphere.

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Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines was the first US airline to suspend an international route to Asia outside of China when it announced service would be suspended between Minneapolis, Minnesota and Seoul until the end of April on Wednesday. The move came as South Korea saw a rapid increase in the number of coronavirus cases being reported and many foreign carriers began suspending service to the country.

Delta still operates flights to Seoul from its other US gateways including Atlanta, Seattle, and Detroit, but will do so five times weekly until April 30. The airline also had planned to launch service between Manila, Philippines, and Seoul at the end of March but is pushing that until May.

Hawaiian Airlines

Hawaiian Airlines

Hawaiian Airlines became the second US-flagged airline to suspend service to Asia following the spread of coronavirus outside of China. The airline is temporarily suspending its Honolulu-Seoul route from March 2 until the end of April.

The Honolulu-Seoul route is one of the most popular links between Hawaii and Asia, with numerous carriers competing for customers. Hawaiian Airlines is the only US airline to offer service on it, competing against Korea's top carriers among others.

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United Airlines

United Airlines

United Airlines became the third US carrier to suspend routes outside of Chinese territory on Friday when it announced that numerous routes to Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan would be suspended or see reduced service, according to a media release sent to Business Insider.

The airline is suspending service from both Los Angeles and Houston to Tokyo's Narita Airport from March 8 until April 24 and Chicago and Tokyo's Narita Airport from March 8 until March 27. Service to Tokyo's Haneda Airport, which is expected to see new routes from scores of foreign airlines at the end of March, is unaffected.

Other routes to Asia will see reduced service or aircraft downgrades until the end of August including Newark-Tokyo, Honolulu-Tokyo, San Francisco-Kansai, San Francisco-Singapore, San Francisco-Seoul, and San Francisco-Taipei.