Beijing: China ordered on Wednesday Suspension of six US flights in the coming weeks after a positive passenger testing surge for Covid-19, taking for 70 cancellations this year in a drastic cut schedule.
From Sunday 24 January, said the flight regulator, it would suspend two United Airlines flights from San Francisco to Shanghai, after seven passengers were tested positively on a recent flight.
It will also suspend the four Chinese Southern Airlines flights from Los Angeles to Guangzhou starting on Sunday 31 January, a step that will also affect flight back in February.
Before the latest cancellation, three US airlines and four Chinese operators operate around 20 flights a week between countries, far below the figure of more than 100 per week before the pandemic.
China has suspended routes with other countries too.
On Wednesday was suspended a total of six flights from France and Canada.
But the number of removed US avironments has surged since December, because infection caused by a very contagious Omicron variant soared to record the highest in the United States.
Beijing and Washington have debated air services from the beginning of the pandemic.
In August, the US Department of Transportation was limited to four flights from Chinese operators to 40% of passenger capacity for four weeks after Beijing imposed identical limits on four United Airlines flights.
China has all except covering its borders to travelers, cutting total international flights up to only 200 per week, or 2% of the pre-pandemic level, the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration (CAAC) said in September.
What is effectively a zero-Covid-19 policy has limited wide spread in China, where he first appeared two years ago, but has also made the country vulnerable to further economic disorders when scrambling to limit local flares, said Analysts.
Last week, Hong Kong, the main transportation center, announced a two-week ban on an entry flight from eight countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States.
Tourists, including Chinese overseas trying to go home, have to fight for expensive tickets, if they can find it at all.
On Wednesday, the search for Trip.com popular China, showing almost no direct flights from the United States to China available for the rest of January.
For February, Delta flights, Seattle-Shanghai on Tuesday sold around 40,000 yuan ($ 6.285).
“Now it will return to China like an impossible mission.
More and more flights are suspended,” Chinese users who were upset from the Weibo social media platform were posted on Tuesday.
“Piss off, Omicron.
I haven’t returned home for two years now.”