The air carrier said it would organize charter flights to return Russian travelers from China.
“The airline will re-register only citizens of China for the flights to the cities of China and Hong Kong as well as citizens of Russia and CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States] countries for the flights from China. In other cases, passengers will be provided with an involuntary refund,” the company’s press service said in a statement on late Friday.
The new strain of coronavirus was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan, located in the Hubei province in December and has since spread to more than 20 countries. The virus has already killed 213 people in China and infected over 9,800 others.
On Friday, the first two cases of the new coronavirus were recorded in Russia: in the Zabaykalsky Territory and the Tyumen Region.