The travel implications of the Wuhan Coronavirus crisis have taken dramatic turns. The Foreign Office now warns against all-but-essential travel to mainland China, and British Airways has suspended flights to Beijing and Shanghai until further notice.

These are the key questions and answers.

What has the Foreign Office said?

As the numbers of confirmed coronavirus cases rises, the Foreign Office has hardened its travel advice to China. Previously, the FCO warned against travel only to Hubei province in central China, where the virus originated. That includes the city of Wuhan, the size of London but not a destination for holidaymakers.

The rest of the People’s Republic, including the key tourist cities of Beijing, Xian and Shanghai, were regarded as safe.

But now the Foreign Office says it advises against “all but essential travel,” which certainly doesn’t include holidays, to the whole of China – except for Hong Kong and Macau.

How many British citizens are in China?

What is happening to the British travellers currently in China? 

Those who are in Hubei province have been told to register by this morning for an evacuation flight that will be happening on Thursday direct from Wuhan to London. But for British travellers everywhere else: there is no airlift. 

The Foreign Office has made it clear that those who are currently in the People’s Republic need not return early.

The advice to avoid “all but essential travel” to mainland China came about because of fears that the government in Beijing could widen the lockdown of transport that is currently in force in Hubei.

The British government mainly wants to limit the number of UK citizens who might have to be brought back in a hurry.

However, the sudden cancellation by British Airways of flights from Heathrow to both Beijing and Shanghai has made the normal return of travellers from China more difficult.

What has British Airways said?

BA flight 38 from Beijing and BA168 from Shanghai, touching down at Heathrow just after 3pm, will be the last British Airways flights from the two Chinese cities for an indefinite time.

All services up to and including Monday 3 February are grounded, though Heathrow-Hong Kong links are continuing as normal.

What are the options for BA passengers due to travel on the cancelled flights?

The sudden grounding of flights means that thousands of people with advance bookings from Beijing and Shanghai may feel stranded. The airline advises rebooking on ba.com.

British Airways is re-booking passengers on rival and partner airlines. From Shanghai, some passengers may be flown back on Virgin Atlantic. BA is also arranging flights on Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Japan Airlines and the leading Chinese airlines.

What are other airlines doing?

Virgin Atlantic is continuing to operate its daily flights between Heathrow and Shanghai.

A spokesperson said: “We continue to monitor the situation regarding Coronavirus and will always follow guidance as set out by relevant authorities. The Foreign & Commonwealth Office is advising against all but essential travel to mainland China, excluding Hong Kong.

“For customers who have booked to travel to China, including Hong Kong, and would like to discuss their travel plans further, we would invite them to contact our customer care team via our SMS messaging system, on +44 (0) 7481 339184. The team are happy to assist with any enquiries.”

Air China, China Southern and China Eastern are operating as normal from Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai to Heathrow.

Tens of thousands of people are booked to travel to China – what are they supposed to do now?

Most British travellers to China are on package holidays, which makes the situation quite straightforward. Because of the Foreign Office travel advice, trips are being cancelled from today onwards – but for an indeterminate length of time. And that’s crucial.

Holiday companies will be dealing with customers who are due to be travelling in the next few days – telling them the holiday is off, and issuing refunds. Anyone with a booking at the weekend or beyond must just wait.

I think it unlikely the Foreign Office advice will be changed in the next couple of weeks, but beyond that it’s hard to say. Naturally holiday companies want to run trips they’ve already sold, so they will have “rolling cancellations”. If you’re booked in May, a particularly popular month, it’s far too early to tell what the implications are.

Many travellers will have invested upwards of £150 for a visa to China. In the (unlikely) event that the visa is part of the holiday cost, you will get it refunded. Otherwise, the investment is probably lost – though it might be worth trying your travel insurance.

What are the insurance implications?

Anyone who continues with plans to visit China in spite of the advice risks invalidating their travel insurance. But conversely people who are in China trying to get out will be covered.

What do we know about the repatriation flight?

A deal has been done with the Chinese authorities to let a plane land at Wuhan, take on passengers from there and leave again for the UK.

I understand that the Foreign Office will charter a wide-bodied plane from an Asian airline, to avoid the problems with crewing that using British Airways or Virgin Atlantic would involve. It is not yet clear which UK airport will receive the evacuation flight. But wherever it is, a wide range of monitoring and health care facilities will need to be put in place.

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