As the coronavirus spreads, Delta Air Lines is suspending its Atlanta-Rome flights.
Atlanta-based Delta had already reduced its Atlanta-Rome routes to fewer flights per week and suspended some other service to Italy.
On Sunday evening, the airline said it would suspend the Atlanta-Rome route from March 11 through April 30 due to the continued spread of COVID-19, or the coronavirus.
That’s a reduction from its normal flight schedule of five flights a week in March and daily in April from Atlanta to Rome.
The only remaining Delta flights to Italy until April 30 will be New York-Rome flights.
The airline said passengers whose flights are affected can rebook on alternate flights, get refunds or contact Delta to discuss other options.
Delta is also extending its suspension of flights between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and Milan until May 20. The last Delta flight from Milan to New York operated March 3.
Other cuts including the delay of the launch of summer season flights from Detroit to Rome until May 1 and New York to Venice until May 21, instead of starting the service April 1.
The airline had previously announced it was allowing travelers with flights booked to Italy to change their travel plans without paying a change fee.
There have been more than 5,800 cases of COVID-19 reported in Italy. A number of towns in northern Italy have been put under quarantine.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is advising travelers to avoid non-essential travel to Italy.
The Trump Administration has raised its travel warning to “do not travel” to regions in South Korea and Italy most affected by coronavirus.
For Italy, the State Department issued a do not travel advisory for Lombardy, where Milan is the capital, and Veneto.
Passengers coming to the United States from Italy and South Korea are being screened.
Atlanta-based Delta said travelers with flights booked to Italy Feb. 25 through May 31 can reschedule flights without paying a change fee. The airline broadened the policy to all flights to, from or through Italy from a previous change fee waiver for Bologna, Milan and Venice through March 2.
A change fee waiver allows travelers to avoid flying to areas with coronavirus outbreaks or avoid the risk that the airline may cancel the flights.
Those with flights booked to Italy where operations continue can keep their travel plans, change to a different flight or cancel their trips and use the value of the ticket towards a future flight. The policy applies to Delta passengers whose tickets were issued March 6 or earlier.
Delta waived change fees for bookings to Italy, China and South Korea before announcing it was suspending flights to China and reducing flights to Korea and Italy.
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