US bans Chinese passenger flights

US President Donald Trump’s administration said yesterday it will bar Chinese passenger carriers from flying to the United States starting on June 16 as it pressures China to allow US air carriers to resume flights.

The order applies to Air China, China Eastern, China Southern and Hainan Airlines.

China’s air authority in late March said Chinese airlines could maintain just one weekly passenger flight on one route to any given country and that carriers could fly no more than the number of flights they were flying on March 12, according to the US order.

But because US passenger airlines had stopped all flights by March 12, China “effectively precludes US carriers from reinstating scheduled passenger flights to China,” the US Transportation Department said.

China “remains unable to say when it will revise its rules to allow US carriers to reinstate scheduled passenger flights,” the department said in a formal notice yesterday.

Delta Air Lines and United Airlines have asked to resume flights to China this month. Delta said in a statement yesterday that it supported US government’s actions. United did not immediately comment.

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Trump administration on May 22 accused China’s government of making it impossible for US airlines to resume service to China and ordered four Chinese carriers to file flight schedules with the US government.

The Chinese carriers are flying no more than one scheduled flight a week to the United States but also have flown a significant number of additional charter flights, often to help Chinese students return home.

The Trump administration is also cracking down on Chinese passenger airline charter flights and will warn carriers not to expect approvals.

On January 31, the US government barred from entry most non-US citizens who had been in China within the previous 14 days due to the coronavirus crisis. Major US carriers voluntarily decided to halt all passenger flights to China in February.

Delta and United are flying cargo flights to China. Delta had requested approval for a daily flight to Shanghai Pudong airport from Detroit and Seattle, while United had asked to fly daily to Shanghai Pudong from San Francisco and Newark airport in New Jersey and between San Francisco and Beijing.

(Reuters)