Washington - The U.S. department of Transportation on Friday suspended 44 China-bound flights from the United States by four Chinese carriers. The retaliation came after the Chinese government's decision to suspend some U.S. carrier flights over COVID-19 concerns.
The suspensions are for flights scheduled from Jan. 30 through March 29 with Xiamen Airlines, Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines, the Transportation Department said.
In the first few weeks of January, Beijing canceled 44 flights, that include 20 United Airlines, 10 American Airlines (AAL.O)and 14 Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) flights, after some passengers tested positive for COVID-19.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said Friday the policy for international passenger flights entering China has "been applied equally to Chinese and foreign airlines in a fair, open and transparent way."
He called the U.S. move "very unreasonable" and added "We urge the U.S. side to stop disrupting and restricting the normal passenger flights" by Chinese airlines."
Airlines for America, a trade group representing the three U.S. carriers affected by China's move along with others, said it supported Washington's action "to ensure the fair treatment of U.S. airlines in the Chinese market."
The Transportation Department said France and Germany have taken similar action against China’s COVID-19 actions. It said China's suspension of the44 flights "are adverse to the public interest and warrant proportionate remedial action." It added that China's "unilateral actions against the named U.S. carriers are inconsistent" with a bilateral agreement.
China has also suspended numerous U.S. flights by Chinese carriers after passengers later tested positive.
The department said it’s “fully prepared” to reverse its decision if China improves its treatment of U.S. carriers, or take additional action if Beijing suspends more flights.
China has all but shut its borders to travelers, cutting total international flights to just 200 a week, or 2% of pre-pandemic levels, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said in September.
The number of U.S. flights being scrapped has surged since December, as infections caused by the highly contagious Omicron variant of the coronavirus soared to record highs in the United States.
China has instituted a strict zero-Covid policy ahead of the Winter Olympics, and airlines are subject to penalties if travellers test positive for the virus.
Before the recent cancellations, three U.S. airlines and four Chinese carriers were operating about 20 flights a week between the countries, well below the figure of more than 100 per week before the pandemic.
-Sources