US suspends 26 flights of Chinese airlines
(Baonghean.vn) - On August 25, the US government announced that it would suspend 26 flights from the US to China by four Chinese airlines. This is considered a response to the Chinese government's decision to suspend some flights by US airlines.
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Illustration photo: AFP |
The decision will affect flights operated by Xiamen Airlines, Air China, China Southern Airlines, and China Eastern Airlines from September 5 to September 28, including 19 flights departing from Los Angeles and seven flights operated by China Eastern from New York. The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) said that 26 flights operated by American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines were recently suspended by China due to concerns about the rising number of Covid-19 cases.
Chinese Embassy in Washington spokesman Liu Pengyu said the USDOT's actions were "extremely irresponsible" and "unreasonably suspending flights of Chinese airlines."
The embassy said China's Covid-19 "circuit breaker" measures are fair and transparent, apply to both Chinese and foreign airlines, and are consistent with bilateral air transport agreements.
USDOT said that as of August 7, Chinese authorities had revised their policy, which means that if 4% of passengers on a flight to China test positive for Covid-19, one flight will be suspended. If the number reaches 8%, two flights will be suspended.
The USDOT said the US has repeatedly expressed opposition to China, with the view that the regulations place “unreasonable responsibility on airlines” when passengers test positive before boarding a flight departing from the US but “test positive for Covid-19 after arriving in China”.
Beijing and Washington have been at odds over air travel since the pandemic began. In January, the US Department of Transportation suspended 44 flights from the US to China by four Chinese airlines, in response to China's decision to suspend 44 flights by US airlines.
In August 2021, USDOT limited four flights from Chinese airlines to 40% capacity for four weeks, after Beijing imposed similar restrictions on four United Airlines flights.
Three US airlines and four Chinese airlines typically operate about 20 flights per week between the two countries, much lower than the more than 100 flights per week before the pandemic.
