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The U.S. government on Friday announced the suspension of 44 flights of four Chinese companies from the United States to China. The suspension was imposed in response to the Chinese government’s decision to suspend some US airlines due to concerns about COVID-19.
The suspensions will take effect on January 30, when the first scheduled flight was of the Chinese company Xiamen that would have transported passengers from Los Angeles to Xiamen. According to the US Department of Transportation, the suspensions will remain in effect until March 29.
Some flights of Chinese airlines, such as Xiamen, Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines, will be suspended. Since December 31, Chinese authorities have suspended 20 flights of United Airlines, 10 of American Airlines and 14 of Delta Air Lines after some passengers tested positive for COVID-19.
Even on Tuesday, the Department of Transportation announced that the Chinese government had announced new flight cancellations of US companies. Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said on Friday that the policy for international passenger flights entering China “has been applied equally to Chinese and foreign airlines in a fair, open and transparent manner.”
He called the United States move “very unreasonable” and added, “We call on the United States to stop interrupting and restricting normal passenger flights” by Chinese airlines. Airlines for America, a trading group representing three US airlines affected by China’s move, joined other voices, saying it supported Washington’s move “to ensure fair treatment of US airlines in the Chinese market.”
The Department of Transportation said France and Germany have taken similar measures despite China’s actions on COVID-19. He said the suspension of flights from China “is detrimental to the public interest and guarantees proportionate corrective action”. The department added that “China’s unilateral actions against US companies are not in line with the relevant bilateral agreement.”
China has also suspended many flights from America to Chinese companies as passengers later turned out to be positive. The department said it was prepared to review its actions if China revised “its policies to create the necessary improved situation for US companies.” The department warned that if China cancels more flights, “we reserve the right to take further action.”
China has closed its borders to passengers, reducing total international flights to just 200 a week, or 2% of pre-pandemic levels, the China Civil Aviation Administration (CAAC) said in September. The number of canceled flights from the United States has increased since December, as infections caused by the highly contagious Omicron variant of the coronavirus rose to record levels in the United States.
Beijing and Washington have clashed over air services since the pandemic began. In August, the US Department of Transportation imposed restrictions on four flights by the Chinese company, at 40% of passenger capacity for four weeks, after Beijing had imposed identical restrictions on four flights of the American company United Airlines.
Prior to the latest cancellations, three US and four Chinese airlines operated about 20 flights a week between the two countries, well below the pre-pandemic figure of over 100 per week./VOA
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