The cuts to airline routes caused by coronavirus keep stacking up. Both Delta and American have stopped flying to Milan-Malpensa (MXP) in northern Italy until at least late April.
American was the first to halt its routes to Italy's metropolitan hub, stopping flights from New York City (JFK) and Miami (MIA) until April 25. The airline announced the suspension on Saturday.
On Sunday, Delta followed up by announcing it was suspending its own flight from New York City to Milan until May 1. The last Delta flight to Milan departs today, Monday, March 2.
United has not announced any changes to its Milan flight from Newark (EWR). Alitalia and Emirates also fly to Milan from New York City. Other nonstop flights between the U.S. and Italy – including Rome (FCO) and Venice (VCE) – have not been affected.
The moves come after U.S. officials issued a level 4 travel warning (urging no travel)for the northern Italian regions of Veneto and Lombardy. Milan is the capital Lombardy, while Venice is Veneto's capital.
There have been more than 1,700 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Italy, according to the latest data from John Hopkins at time of publication. That's a drastic increase in just the last week. Italy – and northern Italy, in particular – has become the largest problem area for the virus outside of Asia.
Delta and American's flight suspensions are the first outside of Asia triggered by the coronavirus. Many major airlines have stopped flying to mainland China and Hong Kong, while Delta has halted its nonstop flight from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to Seoul-Incheon (ICN) while cutting frequencies on other flights to Seoul.
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Ticket sales are clearly slumping around the globe as coronavirus and the anxiety surrounding it spreads.