HARARE – Emirates, one of the world’s biggest international airlines, on Wednesday announced that it is stopping flights to Zambia and Zimbabwe until May 20 as the coronavirus outbreak hammers demand for travel.

The Dubai-headquartered airline flies daily between Dubai, Harare and Lusaka.

In a statement, the airline said: “Flights from Harare to Lusaka and then Dubai (EK714) and flights from Dubai to Lusaka and then Harare (EK713) will be cancelled effective 20th March up to 20 May, 2020. Our last flights to and from Harare are on 19 March.”

The cancellation of the Emirates service will have a massive impact on Zimbabwean tourism.

Emirates keeps taking pre-emptive actions to counter the virus-driven impact on the global airline industry. This time, it has targeted cuts to Africa.

Earlier this week, the airline announced further flight suspensions to some destinations that include Cairo, Algiers, Tunis, and Khartoum as counter measures to contain the coronavirus.

Starting March 18, flights to Algiers and Khartoum were suspended until the end of the month, while flights to Cairo, one of Emirates’ busiest routes in Africa, will be suspended until March 31. Flights to Tunis are suspended until May 20.

Also in North Africa, flights to Casablanca have been suspended since March 16 up to the end of this month.

“The situation remains dynamic, and our flight schedules may change at short notice to comply with regulatory directives or operational requirements,” Emirates said on its website. “We aim to provide affected customers with updated information as early as possible.”

Elsewhere, Emirates’ flights to Mexico City (via Barcelona) are suspended from March 20 to April 30. Flights to and from Peshawar have been rerouted through Islamabad from March 15. Emirates said affected customers “will need to make their own way to rerouted airports”.

In Europe, the Dubai carrier’s flights to and from Barcelona will be suspended from March 20 until April 30. Flights to Madrid are suspended to end April.

Emirates has also asked pilots and cabin crew to take unpaid leave.

“You are strongly encouraged to make use of this opportunity to volunteer for additional paid and unpaid leave,” an email to pilots said.

There is limited opportunity for unpaid leave for cabin crew who are being encouraged to take paid leave, another email said.

Emirates employed over 21,000 cabin crew and 4,000 pilots among more than 100,000 employees overall at the end of March 2019.

Emirates has told staff the coronavirus epidemic could be the biggest challenge it has faced in many years, frozen recruitment and continues to cut flights as the situation worsens globally.

The United Arab Emirates on Wednesday said it would bar entry to foreigners apart from diplomats and residents.