US DOT permits Chinese carriers to conduct limited service

The United States Government has walked back its threat to ban all incoming flights by Chinese carriers after China eased its own limits on US operators, but it will still heavily restrict services. No more than 2x weekly frequencies for passenger flights operated by Chinese carriers will be allowed, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) said in its order dated June 5. The move alters the outright ban imposed two days earlier, effective from June 16, which – as previously reported – was in protest against coronavirus-related restrictions Beijing had imposed on international flights. That ban prompted the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on June 4 to ease its rules on international flights, allowing foreign carriers to reinstate 1x weekly flights into China initially. Frequencies may be increased if no passengers test positive for Covid-19 for three consecutive weeks. Washington’s decision on June 5, which is effective immediately, halves the 4x weekly flights it currently allows for Chinese carriers. In the order, the DOT complained that Beijing’s changes had not gone far enough and still “impede the ability of US carriers to ‘achieve equality of opportunity’”. “We find that these circumstances continue to warrant the Department’s action to restore a competitive balance and fair and equal opportunity among US and Chinese air carriers in the scheduled passenger service marketplace,” the department said in the order.