British Airways, Emirates Suspend Flights Over Ebola Scare

British Airways and Emirates Airlines have both suspended flights to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, the three West African nations plagued by the Ebola virus.

More than 1,400 people have been infected and more than 800 have died from the deadly virus, which has created a worldwide scare that Ebola-infected travelers will create a global plague through international flights.

BA has suspended its four-times-a-week flight that departs London and heads to Sierra Leone and on to Liberia, while Emirates has suspended its daily flight to Conakry, Guinea. That flight originated in Dubai, flew to Guinea and continued on to Dakar, Senegal; Emirates said it will now just fly straight to Dakar “until further notice.”

In a statement sent to travel agents and travel companies, British Airways said its “services from London Heathrow to Freetown (Sierra Leone) and Monrovia (Liberia) will be temporarily suspended from tomorrow, 6 August until 31 August 2014, due to the deteriorating public health situation in both countries.”

Air France, which flies to all three West African nations, has begun to take its own medical precautions. In a statement, Air France said passengers must fill in a questionnaire and have their temperature taken within the airport itself.

“They are only given their boarding card if no medical symptoms are present,” the airline said.