WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - American Airlines Group Inc (AAL.O) became the latest air carrier to slash service to the New York City, the U.S. region worst affected by COVID-19.
American Airlines said on Sunday that it is reducing the number of its flights to the New York metropolitan area by more than 90 percent from Tuesday due to loss of demand in travel following rapid increase in coronavirus cases.
'As coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in New York City and the surrounding region continues to increase, along with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for travel to the area, the demand for flights to the New York area is rapidly evaporating,' David Seymour, American Airlines' senior vice president of operations, said in a memo addressed to its employees Sunday.
The world's largest airline in fleet size, American Airlines will schedule only 13 daily flights to three main airports in New York City until May 6.
New York has one of the busiest airports in the country, but many air carriers have cancelled or suspended services to the region, as the number of passengers have come down sharply due to the panic created by the pandemic. They include United, Spirit Airlines, JetBlue.
New York, the worst-affected U.S. state, accounts for more than one-third of the country's coronavirus cases with 4159 deaths and 123,018 cases of infection. More than half of them are in New York City, the country's coronavirus hotspot.
The CDC recently issued an advisory warning the public against all non-essential travel to and from New York.
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