Virgin Atlantic Temporarily Suspends All Passenger Flights, JetBlue Cuts Flights at Major Hubs As Coronavirus Pandemic Continues (Video)

Virgin Atlantic is suspending all passenger flights for at least a week in April and JetBlue has cut down on flights at major hubs as the coronavirus pandemic continues to have a severe impact on airlines throughout the world.

“Following the rapid acceleration of COVID-19 and extensive travel restrictions, coupled with a sharp drop in customer demand, Virgin Atlantic is continuing to review its flying programme each day and has made the decision to move most of its current scheduled services to cargo-only services from 20 April until 26 April,” the airline confirmed to Travel + Leisure.

Virgin Atlantic has been given special permission to carry cargo in the cabin as well as the cargo hold so they can bring essential medical supplies to the UK. The airline will charter eight flights between London and Shanghai to bring supplies to the UK’s National Health Service.

The move follows the airline’s decision last month to just fly three passenger routes through April 19 to Los Angeles, New York and Hong Kong, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to have a severe impact on airlines throughout the world.

JetBlue, has also cut back on its service, consolidating operations to only five metropolitan areas in the U.S from April 15 through June 10, according to the company. That follows the airline’s significant cuts to flights from its New York hub just last week.

JetBlue will now only fly in and out of Boston, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington D.C., and restrict service to one or two airports in each city.

“We face new challenges every day and can’t hesitate to take the steps necessary to reduce our costs amidst dramatically falling demand so we can emerge from this unprecedented time as a strong company for our customers and crewmembers,” Scott Laurence, JetBlue’s head of revenue and planning, said in a statement.

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