(Seychelles News Agency) - Air Seychelles is cancelling a series of flights across its regional and domestic network following a significant drop in passenger numbers due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.

Effective March 26 to April 30, the national carrier will cancel 10 flights on the Mauritius route, and 11 on the Johannesburg route.

On the Mumbai route, a total of 21 flights will be cancelled until June 30.

Following the recent travel restrictions implemented in Israel, Air Seychelles will also cancel two flights to Tel Aviv.

A complete list of the cancelled flights can be found on the Air Seychelles website at airseychelles.com.

Charles Johnson, the chief commercial officer of Air Seychelles, said, "Due to the negative effects of COVID-19 on demand, we have been forced to cancel approximately 40 percent of our flying schedule through the end of April."

Johnson said that Air Seychelles is monitoring the situation daily and "hopes that further reductions will not be necessary."

Guests holding Air Seychelles tickets affected by these cancellations will be notified by the airline of their travel options.

As the booking performance for domestic flights has decreased tremendously, following considerable cancellations from overseas, the airline will be consolidating a number of flights on its Praslin route.

Air Seychelles has also introduced a new waiver policy to provide travellers more flexibility when booking their trip across the airline's regional network. Travellers with tickets for travel March 4 to 31 are allowed the choice to change their travel dates with no penalty. At the time of rebooking, if a fare difference arises or taxes have increased, additional fees will apply.

Travellers requesting the complimentary date change are advised to visit their travel agency, the Air Seychelles Sales Offices in both Mahe and Praslin or contact the airline's Call Centre by phoning (248) 4391000.

Air Seychelles is also encouraging its staff to proceed on annual leave at this time due to a reduction in activities across the entire business.

As of March 10, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 has exceeded 113,000 in 104 different countries. About 60 percent of confirmed cases have already recovered. The total number of death globally stands at 4012, most being in China, followed by Italy, Iran and South Korea.

The escalation of the outbreak globally has resulted in many countries putting measures that limit travel including Seychelles, a group of 115 islands in the western Indian Ocean.