Coronavirus: The airlines that have grounded all flights

International travel has ground to a halt

(Getty Images)

As the coronavirus pandemic sees more and more countries implementing strict travel bans and border controls, international travel is swiftly grinding to a halt.

In the wake of these unprecedented events, leading airlines are being forced to ground the majority of their fleets, including Ryanair, Virgin Atlantic and Norwegian.

Some airlines have had to take things a step further and completely suspend operations for the foreseeable future.

Here are all the airlines that have temporarily stopped flying.

Austrian Airlines

Austrian Airlines is temporarily suspending all flight operations.

From the evening of Wednesday 18 March, the Austrian flag-carrier will cancel all flights up until at least 28 March.

The carrier’s final flight from Chicago to Vienna will land on Thursday morning.

Customers will be rebooked onto other airlines where possible, rebooked for future travel on Austrian Airlines, or receive a full refund.

LOT Polish Airlines

LOT, Poland’s national carrier, announced that all flights would be suspended as of 15 March until 28 March. This includes flights from both Poland and Hungary.

The airline has a fleet of nearly 100 aircraft and employs around 3,500 people.

Those who have tickets that were purchased before 13 March for flights cancelled due to the temporary suspension can either postpone their trip until between 29 March to 31 May or 17 October to 13 December; get a refund voucher; or get a full cash refund.

SAS

Scandinavia’s largest airline announced it was putting most of its operations on hold, starting from Monday 16 March “until necessary prerequisites for commercial air traffic returns.”

It said the decision was as a result of the demand for air travel being “essentially non-existent”.

The flag carrier of Denmark, Norway and Sweden also said it would be forced to temporarily cut staff by 90 per cent, the equivalent of 10,000 people.

Those due to fly with the airline can rebook without incurring a fee or receive a refund flight voucher.

Air Baltic

The leading airline in the Baltic countries has said all airBaltic connections will be temporarily suspended starting from 17 March up to and including 14 April 2020, including operations from Estonia and Lithuania.

The move comes after the Government of the Republic of Latvia made a decision to tighten security measures and suspend international flights starting on 17 March in order to limit the spread of Covid-19.

Nationals of the Republic of Latvia as well as permanent residents of Latvia who are abroad can apply for a repatriation flight to be returned home.

La Compagnie

This French boutique airline is business class only and flies just two routes, from Paris and Nice to Newark, New Jersey, in the US.

In light of the travel ban forbidding foreign nationals who have recently visited the EU Schengen countries from entering the US, the carrier has been forced to halt operations.

The airline hopes to resume flights once the ban is lifted – the first flight between Newark and Paris is scheduled for 15 April.

Royal Jordanian

Jordan’s carrier is stopping operations until the end of March, and is the first Middle Eastern airline to do so to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Tickets can be refunded or rebooked with the usual fee waived.