A British Airways plane at Venice Marco Polo Airport in Italy – which is now under coronavirus lockdown (Picture: Shutterstock)

British Airways has cancelled all flights to and from Italy after the country was put on lockdown over coronavirus.

A spokesperson for BA said: ‘In light of the Italian government’s announcement and the UK government’s official travel advice, we have contacted all customers who are due to travel today (10 March).’

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office has warned against all but essential travel to the country. There are currently 9,172 cases of Covid-19, meaning the nation now has the largest amount of infected people outside of China. In total, 463 people have died of the virus in Italy.

The country-wide lockdown measures mean some 60 million Italian people woke up today under quarantine.


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Italian emergency medical services conduct checks on passengers at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport (Picture: EPA)

Deserted check-in desks at Milan-Malpensa airport during lockdown measures (Picture: AFP)

A ban on public gatherings has been implemented, while schools, gyms, pubs, and theatres are closed and weddings and funerals will not be able to take place until after April 3.



Some three million British nationals visit Italy every year. Anyone returning from Italy to the UK will be asked to self-isolate for 14 days.

Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte said public transport will remain open during the lockdown. ‘There won’t be just a red zone,’ he told reporters, referring to a lockdown of areas in northern Italy instituted over the weekend. ‘There will be Italy as a protected area.’ he said.

A statement from the foreign office said: ‘We have amended our travel advice to recommend against all but essential travel to Italy. The safety of British nationals is always our number one priority.

‘The advice is that anyone who arrives from Italy subsequent to Italian government decision should now self-isolate for 14 days.’

Signs warn of the temperature checks being conducted on all passengers flying out of Rome (Picture: EPA)

Travellers at Malpensa airport near Milan on Monday (Picture: AFP)

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Measures imposed by Italy have raised concerns that the UK could soon follow suit, after officials announced that Britons with a ‘minor’ cold, flu or fever symptoms might soon be asked to self-isolate at home.

Professor Francois Balloux, of the University College London Genetics Institute, said: ‘The trajectory in the UK is so far roughly comparable to the one in northern Italy, but with the epidemic [there] two to three weeks ahead of the situation [here].

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