Airport staff load cargo on a flight from Nanchang, East China's Jiangxi Province to Los Angeles on Tuesday. The flight marks the official opening of the scheduled all-cargo route from Jiangxi to the US. The route is operated by Atlas Airlines and is scheduled to run three times a week with one-way cargo capacity reaching 110 tons. Photo: cnsphoto

China hopes the US will not create a barrier in solving issues related to flight arrangements between the two nations, as there has been some progress in the matter and China has announced a policy adjustment, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Thursday in response to the US Department of Transportation's (DOT's) decision to suspend the commercial passenger operations of all Chinese carriers starting June 16.

"The Chinese side is very sorry to hear [about the US move]. The civil aviation regulator had been in close communication with the US DOT beforehand and has made solemn representations to the US DOT," Zhao said. 

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) announced on Thursday it would loosen international flight restrictions by allowing all qualified foreign airlines to resume services to China. The new rule takes effect on Monday. 

Industry insiders said the move aims to boost international travel essential to a faster economic recovery while continuing efforts to stem the arrival of imported coronavirus cases.

The regulator also said it will implement a reward and punishment mechanism for all airlines. Carriers that for three consecutive weeks do not carry any passengers on flights to China who test positive for the coronavirus will be allowed to open one more flight to China each week.

However, if a carrier's number of passengers on China flights who test positive for the coronavirus reaches five, that airline's flights to China will be suspended for one week. If the number reaches 10, operations will be suspended for four weeks.

On Wednesday, the US DOT announced that from June 16, seven Chinese airlines - Air China, Beijing Capital Airlines, China Eastern, China Southern, Hainan Airlines, Sichuan Airlines and Xiamen Airlines - are banned from flying to the US. The DOT said the decision was in response to China's "failure" to allow US carriers to resume flights to and from China.

Global Times