Coronavirus: Cunard cruises suspended until March

Cruises were abandoned in March as the coronavirus pandemic hit

The suspension of Cunard cruises has been extended until March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It means the Southampton-based company, which is part of the Carnival group, will have paused operations for an entire year.

Cunard's three ships began to sail back to Southampton in March when it halted all its cruises.

It originally cancelled sailings until July, before extending the date to November.

Cunard president Simon Palethorpe said: "We are so sorry to all those guests who were due to sail on any of the cancelled voyages and for the disappointment this news will cause.

"After very careful consideration and reviewing the latest guidance, we simply do not feel it would be sensible to start sailing again with our current schedule so we have reviewed future itineraries."

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All sailings have been cancelled for Queen Elizabeth until 25 March, Queen Mary 2 until 18 April, and Queen Victoria until 16 May.

Mr Palethorpe said all of next year's Queen Elizabeth's sailings in and around Australia, Japan and Alaska would be replaced with "shorter duration European holidays ranging from three to 14 nights".

Cruise ships have been moored up off the Dorset coast

In an email to customers earlier the company said it had been "making important decisions to protect the wellbeing of our guests and crew".

In May Carnival UK announced plans to cut 450 jobs across Cunard and P&O Cruises, to "ensure the future sustainability" of the business.