The Transport Department’s order affecting four Chinese airlines on Friday is the latest development in a long-running dispute over COVID-19 restrictions
The United States has moved to block 44 flights to the US by Chinese airlines in retaliation for China forcing American airlines to cancel flights.
The Transport Department’s order affecting four Chinese airlines on Friday is the latest development in a long-running dispute over COVID-19 restrictions.
China previously banned some inbound flights by Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and American Airlines after passengers on earlier flights tested positive for the virus. The US says China’s actions violated a treaty on access by other country’s airlines to each country.
The Transportation Department said China’s move to block 44 flights by US carriers was “prejudicial to the public interest and warrants proportionate remedial action by the department”.
The department said China’s rules are unfair because passengers who test negative for the virus before their flight but test positive up to seven days later could result in cancellations of future flights.
The US order limits flights by Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines between January 30 and March 29.
The controversy over flights goes back to 2020 and the early days of the pandemic. In 2020, the Trump administration backtracked on a threat to block four Chinese airlines after China agreed United and Delta to operate a limited number of flights.
The controversy flared up again in August 2021, when the US Department of Transportation limited the number of passengers on some Chinese flights to the US after China imposed similar limits on United. In December, Delta blamed new Chinese sanctions when a plane bound for Shanghai returned to Seattle.
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