After China locked down its five cities to stop the spread of coronavirus, IndiGo airlines on Thursday said it is working with authorities to ensure the safety and health of its passengers and crew, and its flight schedule has remained unaffected till now. IndiGo currently runs two daily direct flights to China, one is on Delhi-Chengdu route and another is on Kolkata-Guangzhou route.
A total of 9,156 passengers from 43 flights were screened for novel coronavirus till Tuesday at the seven identified airports, including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata, the Union Health Ministry had said on Wednesday. Till now, no cases have been detected through these screening efforts, Health Secretary Preeti Sudan had said.
While announcing the flight on Mumbai-Chengdu route, which will begin from March 15, William Boulter, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo said in a statement, “We are aware of the concerning situation of the coronavirus in certain areas of China and are working with authorities to ensure the health and safety of our passengers and crew. At present, our flight schedules are unaffected.”
The respiratory virus has claimed 17 lives since emerging from a seafood and animal market in the Chinese city of Wuhan, infecting hundreds of other people nationwide and been detected as far away as the US.