SOURCE / AVIATION
Air France-KLM group to operate more flights to China: French Embassy
Published: Jul 16, 2020 09:33 PM

Photo: Courtesy of Air France-KLM





The Air France-KLM Group has received approval to operate a second flight from Paris to Shanghai next week, and also a new flight from Amsterdam to Shanghai from next week, The French Embassy in China said on Thursday.

The two routes will operate once a week. 

The news came after China and France reached a consensus in the course of an official dialogue between Wang Yi, China's foreign minister, and Emmanuel Bonne, foreign policy adviser to the president of France. 

Flights between the two countries should resume as soon as possible, according to a statement posted on the website of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday. 

China and France were experiencing disruption in air services among policy uncertainties. 

On Monday, France slashed the number of inbound flights by Chinese airlines from three to only one per week, in a move that it said would "address the imbalance in flights."

The Chinese Embassy in France said on Tuesday that the move was due to France insisting that Air France should fly three times per week and the destination should be Shanghai. However, Shanghai is finding it hard to meet demand as its reception capacity is saturated. 

The Chinese Embassy said China has allowed Air France to operate one flight to Shanghai and has recommended other cities for its two other Chinese flights. 

While Shanghai agreed to receive Air France's second flight to the city and waited for the Chinese government to complete the approval process, the French side made a compulsory decision to reduce Chinese flights, "which is puzzling," the Chinese Embassy in France said. 

The French Embassy in China said on Thursday that France and China are continuing active negotiations in accordance with their bilateral air transport agreement to increase the frequency of flights between the two countries.