wb1969

With multiple flights every day to Milan, what are the chances of BA reducing or even stopping all flights until the virus is contained?

I’ve got a trip coming up mid March which also involves a train journey and I’m getting nervous about doing it.

mikeyfly

Main thread discussing all things virus / BA just a few lines below :

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...and-china.html

wb1969

As it’s not China related, and a busy route, I thought it warranted a separate thread. If Mods decide otherwise, feel free to combine.

ens100

I was in Milan on Friday (before the news of the scale of the impact came out) and people were already a little tense. At LIN (and MXP), they were checking everyone's temperature and I saw a good few more masks than on my previous visit at the start of the month.
I should have been back to Milan today for a meeting on the outskirts of Milan with a major oil and gas company and it was decided to cancel all meetings for the foreseeable future. Airlines may have to reduce more out of demand than to contain the virus but it is interesting to see how it develops.

Hopefully by March you will be ok.

cupsandsaucers

Were all your flights to Italy?

corporate-wage-slave

I went to Bergamo, the other Milan airport, on Tuesday (LGW-BGY) and I had a temperature check just before passport control, they positioned the device just below the jaw bone roughly in line with one of your eyes. I actually had a positive reading on the first scan, but negative on the second. There were about 6 people doing this, all swabbed up, it only added a few seconds to the arrival process. On my departure from BGY there was a Westerner sat fairly close to me who put on a mast as he sat down, which he removed after we left the aircraft, but that was an outlier, no-one else did anything like this. I have other flights to VCE this week, and I'm not too concerned.

henry999

Mrs999 and I are in Milano at the moment, waiting for our LIN-LHR tonight. So far everything is still ok. We were able to check in online and print our BPs. The BA website still says our flight is 'on time'. However, we are not overly confident. Yesterday afternoon we were among the hundreds of people waiting outside La Scala for the doors to open. About 15 MINUTES before the curtain was supposed to go up, staff came out and taped a notice on all the doors announcing that the performance was cancelled.

And the situation for us and others in this predicament (e.g., re: overnight, re-booking, re-routing, &c.) is of course complicated by the Italian ATC strike set for tomorrow.

navylad

As a data point, there were temperature checking when I flew out to Milan on 7 Feb too, I don’t think that can be taken as a change given more recent news from Italy, or predict the likelihood or not of flights being reduced or stopped.

DocWatson

I would expect a major impact on bookings. My business has closed its Milan office and instructed staff to work from home, and has advised all non-essential travel to Italy should be postponed.

I'm meant to be in Venice next week, travelling north of Treviso, and as things stand would be happy to do so, but the business isn't keen.

LTN Phobia

I think it should be a separate thread - for a start, it's a long way from China, and it's a high frequency route.
I have taken the liberty to re-title it to Italy in general, as other areas of Italy may also be affected and queries may arise regarding those destinations as well.

LTN Phobia
Moderator: BA forum

JSR2014

We were due to be exhibiting at an optical show in Milan next weekend, MIDO. It was decided this weekend to "postpone" the exhibition, with only 7 days notice. Clearly I checked on my flights and it is only the tax which is refundable, I understand that and am not complaining. However following advice I saw on another thread I am not cancelling my flight just incase BA extend their waiver to LIN - wishful thinking maybe but worth a shot all the same. I must admit to being surprised at the exhibition being postponed as its one of the largest ones globally and certainly the largest in Europe (for now), however hearing the news coming out of the region at the moment its perhaps a little more understandable.

Ldnn1

Did he catch a good wind?

Dubh

Not Milan, but I flew into FCO on Sunday on Etihad. If you know the satelite E gates where the international long haul tends to come in, I.e. Etihad, Qatar, Singapore etc, there were no checks at all, which I found very strange. There were thermal cameras and cordoned lines setup, but no staff at all.
Totally different then in Genova on my connecting flight where we were met by 5 medics taking in ear temps, in full tyvek suits and face masks. I suppose because of the amount of cruise traffic(?)

mnhusker

As a physician I would council avoiding all nonessential travel into areas where the Corona virus is very active.

This would include:
China
Japan
South Korea
Italy
Iran
Hong Kong
Singpore

Other areas will likely need to be added to that list as time goes on.

Unfortunately as of today the WHO has abdicated its responsibility to declare a "pandemic" by saying it can no longer do so because the process criteria to do so no longer are present. What a joke.

Folks, the virus is world-wide, at least in small amounts, and very active in the areas I note above. Prudence would say that unless travel is required, and that definition is up to the traveler, that you not go there, especially if you are older (above 50 y/o age) or have medical issues that increase your risk of becoming severally ill with the virus.

Let this virus burn itself out by effective public health measures, and hopefully within 9-12 months a vaccine and then non essential travel can resume per normal.

Why have you not heard this from "official" sources? Its because travel and tourism is a multi, multi billion dollar industry and no one wants to take the responsibility for being the one who turns it off for many months, that's why. Major economic hit and the stock market may be just figuring that out today .

Prudent and safe travel to all.

Oakshadow

Flew into FCO on AF last week. They had temperature takers in the arrivals hall. But they were targeting specific people (they flagged me to go past them).

Was going to attend an event in Torino and that has been canceled. Currently scheduled to fly AF TRN-CDG and DL metal CDG-US on the weekend. Since I want to avoid Torino altogether I’m going check with both AF and DL to let me change to depart a city not affected by the virus.