Lufthansa Decreases its Flights by a Quarter because of the Coronavirus

German airline Lufthansa cuts its short and medium haul flights by one quarter over the next few weeks against the backdrop of the coronavirus epidemic, according to a press release.

"After thoroughly evaluating all currently available information on the coronavirus, Lufthansa Group has decided to further suspend its Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian Airlines flights to/from Beijing and Shanghai until March 28."

The company notes that the length of this period will depend on the the further development of the coronavirus situation.

In addition, the number of long flights will be reduced. The airline has announced that the number of temporary non-flying long-haul aircraft will increase from 13 to 23.

As one of the measures against the coronavirus, the airline is also considering reducing employees' working hours.

The number of people infected in mainland China exceeded 79,800, 2,870 died and over 41,600 were cured. There are registered cases of infection outside the PRC, according to the latest WHO data there are registered cases of coronavirus in 53 countries - the number of infected is over 6,000 and 86 people have died.