The US government said on Friday it would suspend 44 China-bound flights from the United States by four Chinese carriers in response to the Chinese government’s decision to suspend some US carrier flights over COVID-19 concerns.
The suspensions will begin on Jan. 30 with Xiamen Airlines’ scheduled Los Angeles-to-Xiamen flight and run through March 29, the Transportation Department said.
The decision will cut some flights by Xiamen, Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said Friday the policy for international passenger flights entering China has “been applied equally to Chinese and foreign airlines in a fair, open and transparent way.” He called the US move “very unreasonable” and added “We urge the US side to stop disrupting and restricting the normal passenger flights” by Chinese airlines.”
Airlines for America, a trade group representing the three US carriers affected by China’s move along with others, said it supported Washington’s action “to ensure the fair treatment of US airlines in the Chinese market. “The Transportation Department said France and Germany have taken similar action against China’s COVID-19 actions. It said China’s suspension of the 44 flights “are adverse to the public interest and warrant proportionate remedial action.” It added that China’s “unilateral actions against the named US carriers are inconsistent” with a bilateral agreement.
TIE
