China to allow banned foreign airlines to resume limited flights
China has announced that the foreign airlines previously blocked from operating in the country over coronavirus concerns would be allowed to resume limited flights, after the United States launched a reciprocal ban on all Chinese carriers.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said in a statement on Thursday that the foreign carriers barred from operating flights to the Asian country during the pandemic would be allowed once-a-week flights into a city of their choosing as of June 8.
The CAAC said all airlines would be authorized to raise the number of international flights involving China to a maximum of two per week if no passengers on their flights tested positive for COVID-19 for three weeks in a row.
“When the risks are under control and adequate guarantees are received, the number of flights from eligible countries can be appropriately increased,” the statement said.
China has suspended international flights since late March as part of efforts to contain rising numbers of coronavirus infections imported by arriving passengers.
The announcement came a day after Washington ordered the suspension of all Chinese travel into and out of the US from June 16, raising concerns of a new dispute between the world’s two-largest economies.
Relations between Washington and Beijing have deteriorated sharply in recent weeks as the two scuffled over the origin of the coronavirus, China’s move to tighten security in the semi-autonomous city of Hong Kong, and the electronics giant Huawei.
The new coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year, swiftly spreading to the rest of the world.
The US has registered more than 1.9 million confirmed cases of the viral infection and over 109,000 deaths, making it the worst-affected country in the world.
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