China adjusts plans for international passenger flights

A check-in desk for Delta Airlines at Beijing Capital International Airport. Photos from Xinhua

The civil aviation regulator Thursday adjusted policies for international passenger flights, allowing more foreign carriers to resume flights to China on a once-a-week basis starting from Monday.

Foreign airlines that have been unable to operate flights to China over the past few months due to the novel coronavirus pandemic can choose a qualified Chinese city for entry starting Monday, according to an online statement by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

Airlines can file their pre-flight plans for the period to Oct. 24, 2020 to the CAAC, the statement said.

To contain the risks of imported COVID-19 cases, China reduced the number of international passenger flights in March, allowing each operating foreign airline to operate only one inbound route with no more than one flight a week.

Starting Monday, the CAAC will also introduce a reward and suspension mechanism, with detailed policies for the carriers to increase or suspend flights.

If all inbound passengers of a flight test negative for novel coronavirus for three weeks in a row, the operating airline will be allowed to increase the number of flights to two per week.

If the number of passengers testing positive reaches five, the flight will be suspended for a week. The suspension will last four weeks if the number of passengers testing positive reaches 10, according to the statement.

The CAAC also said China may “modestly increase” flights from some qualified countries under the conditions of controllable risks and adequate receiving capacities.

Also on Thursday, the Foreign Ministry said the CAAC lodges solemn representations with the U.S. Transportation Department after the U.S. side decided to suspend Chinese passenger carriers.

Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for the ministry, made the remarks at a regular briefing after the Trump administration Wednesday said that it planned to block Chinese airlines from flying into or out of the U.S. starting June 16.

The CAAC has been all along in close communication with the U.S. on the arrangement of flights between the two countries, said Zhao.

The U.S. Department of Transportation order applies to four airlines — Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines — which have continued to fly between the two countries during the pandemic, although at reduced levels.

In early January, U.S. and Chinese carriers operated 325 scheduled flights a week between the two countries. By mid-February, four Chinese airlines operated 20 flights per week. In mid-March, the Chinese carriers increased their weekly flights to 34.