Royal Air Maroc decided on Thursday to suspend temporarily all its direct flights to and from the Chinese capital starting Jan.31 as the new deadly coronavirus continues to spread in China and worldwide. The Moroccan airline said it decided a one-month suspension of the Casablanca-Beijing flights after a “sharp drop in demand” and bookings. King Mohammed VI has ordered the repatriation of about 100 Moroccans, mostly students from Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. Several American, Asian and European airlines have also stopped flights to China, while foreign governments around the world are busy working to fly their citizens from Wuhan. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the fast-spreading coronavirus, that has infected more than 8,200 across the world, a global health emergency.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 30, 2020 23:15 UTC