South African Airways has suspended all its international flights until the end of May.
This comes as the South African government has started denying entry to anyone arriving from countries classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as at high-risk of coronavirus.
The carrier’s regional and domestic routes will continue to fly, but its operations in the US, UK, Germany, Australia and Brazil have all been cancelled.
“It is all our responsibility, not just government, to curb further transmission of the virus," said Zuks Ramasia, SAA’s acting chief executive.
"In addition, the increasing risks to our crew of contracting the virus including the possibility of being trapped in foreign destinations as a consequence of increasing travel bans cannot be ignored.
“We also recognise the fluidity in the conditions we operate in and the need to respond to these changes with speed, to this end we commit to keep all our stakeholders abreast of any changes on an ongoing basis."