YEREVAN, MARCH 20, ARMENPRESS. Flights to Seychelles by European airlines are likely to be suspended in the coming weeks in view of the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Seychelles News Agency reported citing a top official.

The general manager of the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA), Florence Marengo, said that the island nation’s airport, however, will remain open to support other air services. “We are recording a decrease in frequencies from all the carriers serving the route which is normal as there is a temporary ban on visitors from Europe, our major market”, Marengo said.

European airlines connecting to the island nation include British Airways, Air France, Edelweiss Air, Condor and Air Austral.

According to SCAA, there are 14 airlines with connecting flights to Seychelles, including Air Seychelles. Weekly frequencies currently stand at 77 and without the airlines that will be suspending their flights, this will be reduced to 60.

In late December 2019, Chinese authorities notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about an outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, central China. WHO declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus a global pandemic and named the virus COVID-19.