The airline has suspended flights from Gatwick airport for April, though this will be under review. It continues to operate scheduled flights from other hubs, such as Heathrow airport.

A British Airways spokesman, said: “Due to the considerable restrictions and challenging market environment, like many other airlines, we will temporarily suspend our flying schedule at Gatwick.   ​

“We are contacting affected customers to discuss their options.”

From tomorrow (1 April), Gatwick will also be temporarily closing its north terminal with flights departing from its south terminal only.

The move by the flagship carrier comes just a day after budget airline easyJet grounded its entire fleet yesterday.

This will help to remove “significant cost” and would help mitigate the impact from the coronavirus, easyJet said.