United Airlines slashes New York-area flight amid coronavirus

(REUTERS): United Airlines has said that it would drastically reduce flights to two New York City airports as the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise in the city.

According to a statement released by the airline, the temporary reductions at Newark Liberty International Airport and LaGuardia Airport take effect from today (Sunday) and will last at least three weeks.

At Newark – the airline’s hub in the New York area – it will drop its current 139 flights per day for 62 destinations to 15 flights daily for just nine destinations. At LaGuardia, United will go from 18 flights per day to 2 flights daily.

New York is being called the epicenter of coronavirus in the United States with more than 63,300 confirmed cases and 1,905 deaths as of Saturday evening.

Earlier on Monday,  low-cost U.S. carrier Spirit Airlines Inc said it was canceling all flights to and from New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Spirit said it was responding to last weekend’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory warning against all non-essential travel to and from the area.

Earlier today, US President Donald Trump has warned that the number of fatalities in the country due to coronavirus would increase.