Carriers throughout Asia have begun curtailing their flights to South Korea in the wake of an outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) there that has so far killed ten people and infected over 100 more. In a bid to curb its spread, the country has already quarantined over 2,800 either at home or in health facilities.

This week, Taiwan's two biggest airlines - China Airlines (CI, Taipei Taoyuan) and EVA Air (BR, Taipei Taoyuan) - said they would cut capacity to South Korea by half in the wake of plummeting demand. Effective from now until the middle of next month, China Airlines will reduce its services to South Korea from 42 weekly flights to twenty-seven, while EVA Air will cut its weekly flights from twenty to seven.

Chinese carriers have also taken measures with Capital Airlines (China) (JD, Beijing Daxing International) announcing it will temporarily suspend its Hangzhou-Cheongju service from June 11 to July 11 while China Eastern Airlines (MU, Shanghai Hongqiao) and Okay Airways (BK, Tianjin) have also suspended their flights from Ningbo to South Korea.

First reported in Saudi Arabia, MERS is a viral respiratory illness whose symptoms include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. With no known cure, it can lead to death.