Korean Air flight attendant with coronavirus reportedly flew between South Korea and US twice

The South Korean Center for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed that the Korean Air flight attendant diagnosed with coronavirus was onboard a flight from Seoul to Tel Aviv where 31 cases of the virus were reported. The flight was operated on February 15 with around 200 passengers onboard, the Times of Israel reported.

Though Korean Air has not released the flight attendant’s full routing since contracting the virus, it’s believed that the employee worked additional flights to and from Seoul in the days following the flight to Israel, according to South Korean news outlets, including flights between South Korea and the US.

As reported cases of the virus began to rise in South Korea, multiple Asian nations began restricting entry on visitors from the country, Israel included. South Koreans traveling on the flight to Israel’s second most populous city were denied entry to the country, returning home on the same aircraft, according to the New York Times.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a travel warning for South Korea on Monday, advising against non-essential travel.

The flight attendant serviced KE957, Korean Air’s only scheduled service from Seoul to Tel Aviv, on February 15. As Israel’s primary airport, Ben Gurion International Airport serves as the main airports for both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, as well as most cities in the northern half of the country, with most visitors to Israel passing through the airport.

The flight was operated by a Boeing 777-200, according to FlightAware data, which seat over 200 passengers. The Times of Israel reported that around 200 South Koreans were on board the flight, with over 30 being diagnosed with the virus, according to the South Korea Center for Disease Control.

After returning to Seoul, the Los Angeles Times reported that the flight attendant may have operated two additional flights between the South Korean capital and Los Angeles. The flights that were serviced by the flight attendant, KE17 and KE12, reportedly took place on February 19 and 20, respectively, with a one-night layover in Los Angeles, the LA Times reported.

Korean Air operates multiple daily flights between Seoul and Los Angeles with some of its largest aircraft including the Airbus A380 and a Boeing 747-8i. The flights that the flight attendant reportedly worked were operated by the Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger jet seating over 400 passengers in Korean Air’s configuration.