Air France, Swiss and EasyJet airlines aircraft are pictured at Cointrin Airport in Geneva, Switzerland on March 13, 2020.

Almost all flights to France from outside the Schengen zone have been suspended, French Transport and Environment Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Tuesday.

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"There are no more international flights outside the Schengen zone – almost none", Borne told French RTL radio. She added that flights bringing French people home were continuing but were nearly complete.

European leaders called for a ban on all non-essential travel into the continent in mid-March in an attempt to curb the coronavirus pandemic

French President Emmanuel Macron described the battle against Covid-19 as a "war" in a March 16 address in which he announced that “all trips between non-European countries and EU countries will be suspended for 30 days".

Borne’s announcement comes just days after that initial 30-day period expired.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has also said the bloc's Schengen zone should suspend all non-essential travel.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)

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