United Airlines will suspend service between Tokyo's Narita International Airport and some U.S. hubs for several weeks due to the coronavirus outbreak, the carrier announced Friday. United also said it would limit service on other routes between the U.S. and other locations in Japan, South Korea and Singapore.
Service between Narita and Los Angeles International Airport as well as Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport will be suspended from March 8 through April 24, according to United. Service between Narita and Chicago O'Hare International Airport will be suspended from March 8 through March 27, but new daily service between O'Hare and Tokyo's Haneda Airport will begin March 28.
Service between Newark Liberty International Airport and Narita between March 29 and April 24 will be downgraded to five times weekly from daily.
Current service between the U.S. and Haneda isn't affected. United will continue to operate a daily flight between Haneda and San Francisco International Airport, and from March 28 also will offer daily service between Haneda and Chicago O'Hare, Houston-Bush, LAX and Newark.
United will reduce service between San Francisco and Seoul's Incheon International Airport to three times weekly from March 8 to April 30. The carrier had planned daily March service and 12-times weekly service in April on the route.
The carrier also said it would cut service between San Francisco and Singapore Changi Airport to daily from twice daily from March 8 to April 24. Service between San Francisco and Osaka's Kansai International Airport in the same time period from daily to five times weekly.
"We will stay in close contact with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and other health organizations as we continue to evaluate our schedule," United said in a statement.
United's move follows Delta Air Lines' suspension this week of flights between Seoul-Incheon and Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport through April 30. Delta also reduced service between Seoul-Incheon and Atlanta, Detroit and Seattle through April 30.
Delta, United and American Airlines also waived change fees for several airports in Italy as that country grapples with the COVID-19 outbreak.
JetBlue Airways, meanwhile, waived change fees on all flights booked between Feb. 27 and March 11. Alaska Airlines similarly waived change and cancellation fees on all flights booked between Feb. 27 and March 11, and offered travel credit for a year in case of cancellation of those bookings.