Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Sep 06, 2025

Travelers Are Frustrated And Confused About Airlines’ Coronavirus Cancellations

The worsening coronavirus outbreak has led to numerous flight cancellations, stranded tourists, and frustrated airline customers dealing with uncertainty, chaos, and confusion.

Two days before her flight home from the Maldives, Shannon O’Connor got an email saying her Alitalia flight was canceled. She called customer service, which put her on hold for two hours - and hung up on her twice.

When she finally got through, the customer service representative told her that there were no flights leaving the capital Malé and that she would not be getting a refund or help booking a new route. O’Connor said that several other Italian citizens at the same resort were also left stranded by Alitalia.

“I believe this has to be illegal!” O’Connor told BuzzFeed News in an email.

The coronavirus outbreak has created worldwide airline chaos, leaving many people either stranded abroad or frustrated or confused about their travel plans due to canceled flights or suspended routes to and from coronavirus-affected countries.

It's especially bad in Italy since the entire country was put in a coronavirus lockdown on Tuesday, with travel restricted to reasons of work, health, and emergencies. Italy now has over 9,000 coronavirus cases, more than any other country apart from China, and more than 460 people have died.

Alitalia, Italy's flag carrier, announced Sunday that it was suspending national and international flights to and from Milan’s Malpensa airport from March 9. The airline said it was also reducing the number of flights between Venice and Rome due to the drop in demand.

For travelers like O’Connor, Alitalia told BuzzFeed News Tuesday that it was forced to suspend flights to and from the Maldives because the Maldives authorities had ordered a ban on entry for travelers from Italy, including passengers transiting through Italian airports.

Alitalia said it would offer those affected by the reorganization a change fee waiver for rebooking their travel.

But several Alitalia customers on social media said the airline had canceled their flights without offering any information on refunds or rebooking flights.

Others with questions about refunds or canceling their Alitalia flights due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions expressed frustration with the lack of information and being unable to get through the airline’s customer service.







 The airline said that it would offer “rebooking without penalty or the possibility to ask for a voucher for an amount equal to the value of the ticket purchased or its residual value valid for the purchase of other tickets to any destination operated by Alitalia” for passengers affected by those cancellations.


In response to people’s complaints about Alitalia’s customer service, the airline said, “We are sorry for the long queues at customer service numbers, but you will understand that is rather justifiable in such a situation when thousands of passengers have to be rebooked or managed.”

Potentially thousands of Italians are expected to be stranded in the UK - while many British tourists are stuck in Italy - after British Airways and Ryanair were among several airlines to halt flights to and from Italy following the countrywide lockdown and the UK’s warning against all but essential travel to Italy.

Both British Airways and Ryanair said that customers impacted by the suspensions could rebook their flights or receive a refund.

The Italian Embassy has already started to receive a “significant number” of inquiries from its citizens visiting the UK who now fear being stuck there, a diplomatic source told BuzzFeed News. The source estimated that currently, “hundreds” of people could be hit by the suspensions, but the figure could eventually rise to the “thousands.”

Many tourists expressed their concerns and confusion over being stranded in Italy.





Airlines in several other countries including Spain, Australia, Ireland, and Norway also halted their flights to and from Italy.

Apart from the immediate impact of the coronavirus on the travel industry, airlines are gearing up for long-term repercussions of the worsening global outbreak.

Australia’s largest airline, Qantas, slashed almost a quarter of its international flights for the next six months due to the drop in travel demand, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

US airline carriers too announced scaling back flights this year. Delta said it was cutting international flights by 25% and domestic routes by 10% to 15% while American Airlines planned to cut its summer international flying by 10%, the Washington Post reported. The CEO of Qantas and the CEO and president of United said they would forgo their salaries this year, while the CEO of Southwest said he would take a pay cut.

Threatened with redundancies, several airlines, including Qantas, Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa, and Emirates, asked their employees to take unpaid leave - while Norwegian said it was going to temporarily lay off a "significant share" of its workforce, CNN reported.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce warned that many airlines could collapse in the face of the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

“We know we can ride this out,” Joyce said. “Not all airlines in the world will.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Brand-New $1 Million Yacht Sinks Just Fifteen Minutes After Maiden Launch in Turkey
Here’s What the FBI Seized in John Bolton Raid — and the Legal Risks He Faces
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
×