American airlines have been cleared to resume
a limited schedule of flights to China after an agreement between the two
countries to defuse what was shaping up to be .
The three largest US airlines — American
Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines — were all flying to China before
the coronavirus pandemic, but demand dropped off sharply as the outbreak took
hold and they eventually suspended their flights in February when the US
government imposed travel restrictions.
Four Chinese carriers operated throughout the
pandemic at a reduced schedule of one weekly flight each between the two
countries. But when Delta and United sought to resume service June 1, the US
airlines were blocked by Chinese government regulations, according to the US
Department of Transportation.
That led the Transportation Department to
determine Beijing was violating a bilateral aviation agreement. The agency said
earlier this month it would effectively ban Chinese flights into the United
States starting June 16. US authorities later pulled back on that threat after
the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said it would allow a limited
number of flights from US carriers.
The Transportation Department on Monday
announced it was authorizing — with immediate effect — Chinese airlines to fly
four round-trip flights each week between the United States and China. The
agency said its decision was spurred by China agreeing to do the same for US
airlines.
"We welcome this action by the Chinese
government, as an important first step to fully restore air travel," the
agency said in a statement.
The CAAC has yet to confirm the development.
A spokesperson for United Airlines said it
aimed to relaunch its service to China "in the weeks ahead." A
spokesperson for American Airlines said its flights are scheduled to resume to
Beijing and Shanghai in October. Delta did not immediately respond to a request
for comment.
Before the pandemic, airlines from both
countries operated about 300 round-trip US-China flights each week.
The air travel spat reflects rising, broader
tensions between Washington and Beijing. Mutual blame over the coronavirus
pandemic has threatened to break what was already a fragile truce on trade
between the world's biggest economies. The two governments have also clashed
over China's new national security law for Hong Kong and are locked in an
ongoing fight over who controls the technologies of the future.
The US Department of Transportation on Monday
said it would "continue to press for the full restoration of passenger air
travel between the United States and China, in part to allow for the
repatriation of Chinese students who have been unable to fly home due to the
shortage of flights."
"As the Chinese government allows more
flights by U.S. carriers, we will reciprocate," the agency said.
No comments:
Post a Comment