[ad_1]
American Airlines and United Airlines Holdings have banned at least six flights from Chinese regulators.
American Airlines Group Inc. and United Airlines Holdings Inc. said Chinese aviation regulators have blocked some of their flights as the country intensifies measures against Covid-19, sparking discussions between industry representatives and government agencies.
The U.S. has banned at least six flights from China, a spokesman said Tuesday, refusing to provide further details. United canceled flights from San Francisco to Shanghai for six days in late January. Delta Air Lines Inc. declined to comment.
There are 60 flights between the two countries suspended by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration because passengers were Covid-19 positive after arriving in the country, Reuters reported, including 22 from U.S. carriers. The action is a recent clash between the United States and China over flights between countries and changes in requirements to help sustain the spread of coronavirus.
“U.S. airlines are concerned about the consequences of a disruption and are continuing to assess the impact it will have on operations,” a statement from Airlines for America, a major U.S. carrier lobby group, said in a statement. “We are communicating with the US and Chinese governments to identify a way to minimize the impact of passengers.”
Play VideoUnited typically has four weekly flights from San Francisco to Shanghai, while American operates twice a week from Dallas-Fort Worth to China. The Delta flies twice a week from Detroit and Seattle to Shanghai. U.S. airlines have not commented on the number of flights canceled by U.S. carriers.
The U.S. spoke to China in late December after possible changes to new aircraft cleaning requirements prompted a Delta flight to return to Seattle. The new mandates, driven by the deployment of Covid-19, significantly extend the time the aircraft is on the ground and largely copy the steps already taken by U.S. airlines to clean up between flights, industry representatives said at the time.
Some restrictions on Covid imposed by China on airlines in other countries violate the treaty governing air travel between the two nations, the U.S. said. On August 18, the U.S. Department of Transportation imposed restrictions on Chinese airlines ‘flights to America after the Chinese government restricted United Airlines’ ability to fly to that nation.
People familiar with the matter have said that Hong Kong will ban air passengers designated as high-risk countries from traveling through Hong Kong International Airport. Omicron is the latest move in the financial center’s aggressive efforts to protect itself from the coronavirus variant.
[ad_2]
Source link
