CAAC eases flight ban after US targets China

About 12 hours after the United States issued an order suspending Chinese passenger airlines from flying to the US from June 16, with an option to take effect earlier, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said it would allow foreign carriers 1x weekly flights to a city of their choosing from June 8. The CAAC did not refer to the US Department of Transportation (DOT) order, issued on June 3, in its June 4 statement, but it said that non-Chinese carriers currently barred from entering the country “can choose an entry city with reception capability” from a list of approved cities and operate one international passenger flight every week. If passengers test negative for coronavirus for three consecutive weeks, the airline will be permitted to progress to 2x weekly frequencies, the authority said. However, if five or more passengers test positive, the airline must suspend its route for one week. The suspension rises to four weeks if ten passengers or more test positive. As previously reported, the CAAC slashed inbound international flights on March 26, ostensibly in an effort to halt infections carried in by arriving passengers. US passenger airlines had already stopped all flights to China by March 12 and have since been unable to resume. Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) and United Airlines (UA, Chicago O’Hare) have both asked to restart flights to China in June.