- Number infections by the coronavirus have continued
to rise.
In China, over 10000 flights have been cancelled
on a given day, right now.
There are rescue flights out of Wuhan by many countries.
Passengers' seats have been added in the cargo hold.
- [Newscaster] Evacuated now, safely.
- [Dr. Isaac Bogoch] And the people at greatest risk
of acquiring this infection.
- Things have gotten really serious lately.
The death toll and the number of infections
by the coronavirus have continued to rise.
Now we are seeing over 600 number of deaths
and 32000 numbers of infection worldwide.
China represents a large market air travel.
The outbreak of coronavirus disease has taken a large toll
in aviation and airlines industry,
but just how bad it has got?
First, we'll take a look at the rescue flights out of Wuhan
by many countries.
I've collected many rare footage.
This footage may not be the best in quality
but you get the story.
I think saving lives and security, safety is
the priority right now.
There are strict safety protocols on these rescue flights.
Every passenger underwent screening process at airport,
including temperature recording.
Crew member wear protective suits, goggles
and surgical mask.
All passenger had to wear surgical mask
to prevent the potential spread of virus.
The Japanese government are the first to evacuate citizens
in Wuhan.
It has already performed
three evacuation flights using ANA Boeing 767-300.
South Korea government charter
a Korean Air Boeing 747-400 aircraft to fly
from Seoul, Gimpo to Wuhan twice,
same as Japan.
South Korea keep using one aircraft to minimise
the cleaning work.
The US government charter Kalitta Air Boeing 747-400
freighter cargo aircraft to fly from Wuhan
via Anchorage, Alaska to Riverside, March Air Reserve Base
in California.
It is interesting to see passengers' seats have been added
in the cargo hold.
Russia has sent Ilyushin 76 Transporter
to take their citizens back from Wuhan.
The plane flew back 78 passengers to Tyumen in Siberia.
It is where they set up a camp to quarantine
these passengers and test them from the virus.
Here are some rare footage of the rescue flight ops.
(plane engine roaring)
The UK government chartered a Wamos Air 747-400
to fly directly from Wuhan to Royal Air Force Base,
Brize Norton.
The aircraft went on to Spain afterwards.
- [Newscaster] On the tarmac of a Royal Air Force Base
in Oxfordshire, England.
The first passengers getting off that plane
and arriving home, evacuated now, safely,
from the coronavirus outbreak zone.
This is one of a number of planes.
A number of countries now have succeeded in repatriating
their citizens.
We know on board are 83 British citizens,
27 foreign nationals, including the Chinese spouses
and partners who were given permission to fly.
So keep a watch on these,
these are the very first people coming off that plane.
- France, together with other European Union countries,
chartered the largest aircraft in the world, the A380,
operate by High Fly, to rescue EU citizens out of Wuhan.
The German government sent an air force Airbus A310
to Wuhan to rescue Australian citizens
from the coronavirus epicentre in Wuhan.
Qantas has been tasked to operating a flight from Wuhan
to Learmonth, Western Australia.
From there, the passenger are transferred
to Christmas Island where they will stay two weeks
for quarantine.
Qantas, the Australian airline,
has issued a statement saying,
"The internal call for volunteers to operate
"the flight was oversubscribed with scores of people putting
"their hands up to assist."
The Bangladeshi government charter
a Biman Bangladesh 777-300 to fly to Wuhan directly
from Dhaka.
Here are some footage onboard the flights.
(plane engine roaring)
The Indian government sent two
different Air India Boeing 747-400 aircraft
from Delhi to Wuhan.
The Sri Lankan government chartered
a Sri Lankan Airlines A330-200 aircraft.
The Indonesian government chartered a Batik Air A330-300
to rescue Indonesian citizens.
(speaking in foreign language) (plane engine roaring)
Malaysian government sends an Airbus A320-Neo
from Air Asia to pick up citizens.
The Thai government has also sent an Air Asia Airbus 320-Neo
to fly from Wuhan to U-Tapao Air Force Base.
The Uzbek government sent an Uzbekistan Airways 767-300 ER
to fly from Tashkent to Wuhan to pick up the citizens.
The Jordanian government chartered
a Royal Jordanian Airline Boeing 787-Dreamliner,
fly to Wuhan, back to Amman.
Other country involved in the rescue,
including Turkey, using A400 and military aircraft.
Algeria, using Air Algeria A380.
Morocco, using Royal Air Morocco 787.
Egypt with Air Leisure A330.
Saudi Arabia chartered a iFly A330.
New Zealand using Air New Zealand 777-200.
A Scoot 787 flew to Singapore and back home,
while the Canadian government chartered a Highfly A330-300,
flew Canadian back from Wuhan
to Canadian Force Base-Trenton in Ontario.
Not only foreign airlines are sending planes to China
to pick up their citizens back.
The Chinese airlines are
also rescuing Chinese citizens stranded overseas
due to foreign airline cancellations.
Here's a footage of China's (murmurs) sending their planes
from Guangzhou to Phuket in Thailand
to pick up stranded citizens there.
(speaks in foreign language)
We are seeing a number of airline deep cleaning their plane,
disinfecting every corner from top to bottom,
from the table inside to the in-flight magazine.
No corner has left unturned.
So what are the chances to get infected on a plane?
- [Dr. Issac Bogoch] The risk for transmission is low
and the people at greatest risk of acquiring
this infection would be those who are in close contact
with the person on the plane.
So people who are sitting beside this individual,
and usually one or two rows in front
and one or two rows behind.
And just by virtue of being on the same aeroplane,
it's not like you're at greater risk to have this infection.
- Chinese Air Force have mobilised
their Ilyushin 76 Transporter and personnel
to deliver medical supplies to the virus epicentre, Wuhan.
Many Chinese airlines were flying empty passenger planes
but carrying cargo, as supplied inside the aircraft cabin.
Most of the foreign airline have suspended flights
or significantly reduced flying into China.
Currently,
all US and European airlines have suspended flying
to mainland China,
and US carriers also suspended Hong Kong.
Within domestic China,
the cancellation rates of the flights have reached
over 70%.
That is over 10000 flights cancelled on a single day,
as the government asked people not to travel
and stay indoor.
Many flights to secondary Chinese cities have been cancelled.
Here are a list of airlines still flights
on a limited schedule to China.
Air China have combined their US service
with Los Angeles and San Francisco together,
and also clumped JFK and Washington D.C. together.
It remain doubtful who can fly on this service
as US has issued a travel ban for anyone
who has been to China in the last 14 days.
The fear of getting infected
by coronavirus has reduced air travel beyond China.
We're seeing a lot of airline might operating
in red again, just saying how volatile the situation is
by the reduced amount of travelling.
Cathay Pacific has been hit particularly hard
since the Hong Kong unrest last year.
It planned to cut 30% worldwide capacity
and 90% capacity to China.
The airline have asked staff to take unpaid leave
to save the cash flow of the company.
My hats off to all the volunteers,
to all the crew and all the personnel
who are fighting the coronavirus, serving the citizens,
who are braving your life, risking your life,
total respect.
You guys did a great job.
(inspirational music)