Bargain flights between Hong Kong and New York have emerged in the wake of the new coronavirus, as long as travelers are willing to stop in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, in just a few months.
Flying with China Southern Airlines Co. to John F. Kennedy International on May 20 costs only $193, according to travel booking site kayak.com. The trip includes 6 hours and 35 minutes in Wuhan. The next-cheapest ticket, with China Eastern Airlines Co. via Shanghai, is $487. Direct American Airlines Inc. flights are on offer for $2,688.
Wuhan and the surrounding region are currently in lockdown, effectively quarantining some 50 million people. A raft of international airlines, from British Airways to Singapore Airlines, are chopping flights to mainland China.
It's not clear how long the crisis will last: Infections are soaring and the World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a public health emergency. The SARS virus in 2003 was contained in about six months.
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