British Airways and Ryanair have cancelled hundreds of flights between the UK and parts of Europe and the US due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The BA cancellations include journeys between Heathrow and Italy, France, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland and Switzerland - plus New York's JFK.

The airline has also cancelled flights between Gatwick and Italy, France and Albania - and London City flights to and from Italy and Germany - after another spike in COVID-19 cases in the UK.

BA said the changes to its timetable as a result of the coronavirus outbreak would see "a number of flights merged between 16 March and 28 March".

A spokesman for the airline said: "We will be contacting customers on cancelled flights so we can discuss their travel options, including re-booking on to other carriers where possible, full refunds or booking with BA for a later date of travel.


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"Customers can also find the latest information and options on BA.com."

Ryanair is reducing frequencies on some routes by up to 25%, particularly affecting flights to and from Italy.

COVID-19 'to become more significant'

The Dublin-based carrier said it would operate a reduced schedule between 17 March and 8 April because of a "significant drop in bookings" over the period caused by concern over COVID-19.

Other measures being introduced by Ryanair include "rolling schedule cuts" allocating leave or paid leave to pilots and cabin crew, working with suppliers to cut costs, and freezing recruitment, promotion and pay.

BA said it is cancelling 12 round-trips from Heathrow to JFK from 17 March to 28 March.

Image: Ryanair cancellations especially affect flights to Italy

It is also scrapping 171 short-haul roundtrip flights from Heathrow to countries including Italy, France, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland over the same dates.

The cancellations affect seven short-haul BA roundtrip flights from Gatwick to Italy, France and Albania from 16 March to 25 March.

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And BA is cancelling 26 short-haul roundtrip flights from London City Airport to Germany and Italy from 17 March to 28 March.

More than 89,000 confirmed and suspected cases of COVID-19 have been recorded globally and there have been more than 3,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the outbreak.