Airlines offer refunds to feverish passengers barred from Wuhan airport

Many Chinese airlines are offering full refunds to passengers prevented from boarding flights leaving Wuhan, Hubei province, where a new coronavirus that is spreading across the country was first identified.

People wanting to enter terminal 3 at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport must now pass body temperature checks. Those with fevers will be temporarily quarantined.

Airlines including Tianjin Airlines, Hainan Airlines and Kunming Airlines have stepped up efforts to deal with feverish passengers.

They are offering full refunds to passengers with such symptoms booked on flights from Wuhan between Jan 15 and Feb 29 or help with ticket rescheduling after they get certificates from the airport’s health department showing why they were prevented from boarding their original flight.

The airport is expected to handle over 3.5 million passengers during the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush, known as chunyun.

China State Railway Group said on Tuesday it will help passengers who have booked train tickets for journeys from Wuhan to get refunds. It has yet to announce detailed arrangements.

Normally, it charges a cancellation fee of 5 percent to 20 percent of the fare, based on when the passenger submits the request.

Nearly 24.4 million train passengers are expected to leave Wuhan or arrive in the city during the travel rush, which began on Jan 10 and will last until Feb 18.

The travel rush is the world’s biggest annual human migration, with about 3 billion trips expected to be made around the country on all forms of transport.