The US administration announced on Friday that it will suspend 44 China-bound flights from four Chinese airlines departing from the US in response to the Chinese government’s decision to suspend some US airline flights due to Covid-19.
The Ministry of Transport reported that the suspensions will begin on January 30 with Xiamen Airlines’ scheduled flight from Los Angeles to Xiamen and will last until March 29.
As part of the decision, some flights of Xiamen, Air China, China Southern and China Eastern Airlines will be suspended.
The Ministry of Transport said that France and Germany had also taken similar measures against China’s Covid-19 flight restrictions, saying it was against the public interest for China to suspend 44 flights. The ministry also added that China’s unilateral actions against US airlines were inconsistent with a reciprocal agreement.
‘We will review the decision if China changes its policies’
The US Department of Transportation has stated that it is ready to reconsider its decision if China changes its policies to improve the situation for US airlines.
“We reserve the right to take additional action,” the ministry warned, in case China cancels more flights.
Trade group Airlines for America, which represents three U.S. airlines affected by China’s restrictions, said it supports Washington’s move, which it describes as an act of “ensure that U.S. airlines are treated fairly in the Chinese market”.
China: ‘US move is ‘irrational’
Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said that the policy of international passenger flights entering China is made in an equal, fair and transparent manner for Chinese and foreign airlines.
Stating that the US’s move to stop flights is “very unreasonable”, the spokesperson said, “We invite the US side to interrupt and restrict the normal passenger flights of Chinese airlines.”
China also suspended 44 US flights
China has suspended 20 United Airlines, 10 American Airlines and 14 Delta Airlines flights since December 31, after some passengers tested positive for Covid-19. The Ministry of Transport reported that the Chinese government also announced new US flight cancellations on Tuesday.
China has also suspended a large number of flights to the US by Chinese airlines after passengers later tested positive.
China’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAAC) said in September that China had reduced international flights to 200 per week, or 2 percent of pre-pandemic levels.
The number of canceled flights in the US has increased since December, as infections caused by the highly contagious Omicron variant of the Corona virus rose to record levels in the country.
Beijing and Washington have been at odds over airline services since the start of the pandemic. In August, the U.S. Department of Transportation limited Chinese airlines’ four flights to 40 percent passenger capacity for four weeks, after Beijing limited four United Airlines flights to 40 percent passenger capacity.
Prior to the recent cancellations, three US airlines and four Chinese airlines operated about 20 flights per week between the two countries. This figure was more than 100 per week before the pandemic.