* HSBC bans staff travel to Hong Kong, mainland
* Facebook curbs non-essential travel
* United, others cancel flights and adjust schedules
(Recasts with United suspending flights)
By Tracy Rucinski, Josh Horwitz and Heekyong Yang
CHICAGO/SHANGHAI/SEOUL Jan 28 (Reuters) - United Airlines
Holdings Inc is cancelling some flights to China as
Facebook Inc and other global companies restrict travel
to the country, with concerns over a flu-like virus deepening.
The coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China has killed
106 people in the Asian country and spread across the world,
rattling financial markets.
The United States warned on Monday that Americans should
reconsider visiting all of China, while South Korea elevated its
travel warning on Tuesday, advising its citizens to stay away.
Facebook became the first major U.S. company to announce a
travel suspension after the U.S. government's warning, saying it
had asked employees to halt non-essential travel to mainland
China and to work from home if they had traveled there.
Chicago-based United said it was suspending 24 U.S. flights
to Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai between Feb. 1 and Feb. 8.
due to a significant drop in demand.
Europe's biggest bank, HSBC, banned all staff
travel to Chinese-ruled Hong Kong for two weeks and to mainland
China until further notice, according to an internal memo seen
by Reuters.
The British-based lender, which has the largest presence
among foreign banks in China, also asked staff who have recently
visited the country to undergo a self-imposed 14-day quarantine.
U.S. rival Goldman Sachs imposed similar measures,
according to a memo seen by Reuters.
In South Korea, home appliances maker LG Electronics Inc
put a complete ban on travel to China and has
advised employees on business trips in the country to return
home as quickly as possible, a company spokeswoman said.
South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc said it was
urging employees to avoid all non-essential travel to China,
while banking group Standard Chartered restricted
travel to both mainland China and Hong Kong.
In Germany, auto supplier Webasto, which has 11 sites in
China, including in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei, has halted all
corporate travel to and from China following the virus and the
infection of an employee.
Japan's Honda Motor Co Ltd said it recommended
employees avoid travel to China, while Nissan Motor Co
said it plans to evacuate its Japanese staff and their families
in Wuhan via a government-chartered flight.
FALLING TRAVEL DEMAND
Aside from United, other airlines said they were adjusting
schedules as companies reassessed the risk of travel to China.
South Korean budget carrier Air Seoul said it will halt all
flights to China, while Taiwan's China Airlines
announced a further rescheduling of its flights to China from
Friday to Feb. 10, cancelling five flights and rearranging the
schedules of others.
Taiwan's Eva Airways also said some flights to
China may be cancelled.
Germany's Lufthansa said on Monday bookings for
its flights to and from China were slightly subdued due to the
coronavirus outbreak.
Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd said it was
reducing overnight layovers for crew at all points in mainland
China as much as possible, resulting in some changes to its
flight schedule.
International SOS, a medical and travel security services
firm that advises companies on travel, said its guidance for now
was that business travel to China outside Hubei could continue.
But this could be updated if there were major flight
cancellations throughout China and more disruptions to ground
transport, including rail, International SOS Regional Security
Director James Robertson said.
"Many of our clients have chosen to defer or cancel upcoming
travel based on their own individual assessments," Robertson
said. "If people do choose to travel they need flexible
itineraries accounting for extra time for temperature and health
screenings."
(Reporting by Josh Horwitz in Shanghai, Heekyong Yang in Seoul
and Tracy Rucinski in Chicago; additional reporting by Engen
Tham in Shanghai, Sumeet Chatterjee in Hong Kong, Jamie Freed in
Sydney, Naomi Tatjitsu in Tokyo, Ben Blanchard in Taipei, and
Joyce Lee in Seoul; writing by Jamie Freed and Lawrence White;
Editing by Richard Pullin, Nick Macfie and Lisa Shumaker)