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Delta, Hawaiian suspend some flights to South Korea in response to coronavirus

Zach Wichter
Zach Wichter
Aviation Industry Reporter
Zach has been interested in things that go since he was a kid. He previously worked at The New York Times and spent much of his time there covering the aviation industry, including contributing to the paper’s reporting on the 737 Max crisis at Boeing. He grew up in Bethpage, on Long Island, and graduated from Northwestern University in 2013 where he majored in journalism and gender and sexuality studies.
Feb. 26, 2020
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2 min read
Delta Airbus A350 at ATL
Delta, Hawaiian suspend some flights to South Korea in response to coronavirus
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South Korea is the latest destination to see cancellations to the U.S. because of the coronavirus.

Delta Air Lines on Wednesday announced it would suspend service between Seoul (ICN) and Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) from Feb. 29 through April 30. The airline also plans to reduce service between Seoul and Atlanta (ATL), Detroit (DTW) and Seattle (SEA) to five times weekly through April 30.

Hawaiian made a similar announcement a few hours later, releasing a statement that its five-times-weekly service between Honolulu and Seoul would be suspended beginning March 2 through April 30.

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While Delta is the first U.S. airline to announce a South Korean route suspension in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, other American carriers are waiving change fees for customers on South Korea flights.

Related: Everything you need to know about travel during the coronavirus outbreak.

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American and United issued waivers earlier this week that allow people headed to Seoul to change eligible tickets for no fee.

Korean Air, South Korea's largest airline, will allow passengers to and from the U.S. to change their itinerary once free of charge, so long as the ticket was purchased before Feb. 22 and departure from the U.S. happens no later than June 30. Asiana, the country's second-largest carrier, has not published coronavirus-related guidance for U.S. passengers on its website.

In the last few weeks airlines around the world have regularly announced schedule changes to China, Taiwan and Hong Kong as demand to those destinations has dropped in response to the coronavirus spread. Other airlines in the region have trimmed flights too. Singapore Airlines, for example, has canceled hundreds of flights from its Singapore hub citing reduced demand.

Related: Airlines modify inflight service to prevent coronavirus spread onboard.

This post will be updated as more airlines announce service changes to Korea.

Featured image by ALBERTO RIVA/THE POINTS GUY