There are differences between the United States and China over the policy of international flights since the emergence of the epidemic
The United States said it suspended 44 flights of Chinese airlines in response to a similar step taken by Beijing, claiming to control the spread of the Corona virus.
And the Chinese authorities decided to suspend this large number of American flights for United Airlines, Delta Airlines, and American Airlines, following discovering that a number of its passengers had been infected with the epidemic.
In return, the United States is suspending flights by Xiamen Airlines, Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines.
Beijing described Washington’s decision as “illogical”, while the United States considered China’s decision to suspend this number of flights “punitive and unfair.”
It is scheduled to start work in accordance with the American decisions at the end of January and for a period of two months.
The US-Chinese debate began on December 31, when Beijing decided to suspend 20 United Airlines flights, 14 Delta Airlines flights, and 10 American Airlines flights, following discovering that a number of its passengers had been infected with the epidemic.
The US Department of Transportation said the Chinese government has issued decisions to cancel more incoming US flights to China.
And the US Department announced that France and Germany had taken measures similar to the Chinese measures aimed at limiting the spread of the Corona virus.
“China’s suspension of 44 flights is once morest the public interest and requires countermeasures,” she added, stressing that China’s unilateral decision once morest US airlines violates a bilateral agreement between the two countries.
picture released, EPA
American airlines Delta, United Airlines and American Airlines have been affected by Chinese decisions
Liu Bingyu, the Chinese ambassador to Washington, said the policy for international passenger flights “is applied without discrimination to Chinese and foreign airlines with fairness, clarity and transparency.”
Pingyu described the US decision as “illogical”, calling on the United States not to cause disturbances or impose restrictions on the flow of Chinese flights and to allow them to continue normally.
The “Airlines for America” alliance, which represents three of the airlines affected by the Chinese decisions along with other American companies, announced its support for the measures announced by Washington “to ensure fairness in the treatment of American airlines in the Chinese market.”
It should be noted that China suspended American flights for Chinese airlines as well, following discovering that a number of its passengers had been infected with the Corona virus.
The US Department of Transportation said it was ready to revise the measures it announced if China “reviews its policies to improve the current situation for US airlines”.
It also warned that “if China cancels more flights, we will reserve the right to take further measures.”
China has taken many measures to limit the spread of the Corona virus, except for closing its borders to travelers; China has taken decisions to reduce the total international flights to 200 flights per week, which is 2.00 percent of pre-epidemic levels, according to a statement issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China last September.
And the number of US flights canceled since last December witnessed a sharp increase due to the high number of cases of the highly mutated Omicron strain of the Corona virus, which set records in the United States.
And there have been disagreements between the United States and China over flights since the beginning of the epidemic. Last August, the US Department of Transportation issued a decision limiting the number of passengers on flights operated by four Chinese companies to 40 percent of aircraft capacity for a period of four weeks, following China imposed similar restrictions on flights by four American airlines.
Until this batch of mutual cancellation of flights between Washington and Beijing, the number of flights between the two countries, on planes belonging to three American companies and four Chinese companies, was 20 flights a week, which is much less than the 100 flights a week that were traveling between the United States in China before the epidemic.
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