File Photo: VCG.

Flights between China and the US are at risk of being suspended next month, as China's aviation regulator continued to cancel inbound flights to the country due to imported cases of COVID-19.

On Tuesday, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), China's aviation regulator, announced the suspension of a further eight inbound flights from three US airlines.

Reuters reported that the latest cancellations brought the total of suspended flights to 84 this year. 

According to the CAAC, United Airlines will not be allowed to operate four flights from San Francisco to Shanghai, from January 24, and Delta Air Lines will have to cancel two flights from Seattle to Shanghai, from the week of January 31. Additionally, American Airlines will be forced to suspend two flights from Dallas to Shanghai from February 21.

I can confirm that American Airlines has canceled 10 total flights between Dallas/Fort-Worth (DFW) and Shanghai (PVG), Curtis Blessing, airline spokesman from AA told the Global Times on Tuesday night. 

The three US carriers had already faced frequent flight cancellations for four to six weeks due to multiple circuit breaker suspensions. It is possible that the airlines could even face a complete suspension of flights in February.

The Omicron variant of COVID-19 has placed increasing pressure on inbound flights. 

From January 1, the CAAC has moved to cancel more than 100 international routes to China due to the importation of COVID-19 cases, with more than 200 flights cancelled in total, based on calculations from caixin.com.

In addition, two routes operated by Air China and China Southern Airlines were suspended for eight weeks due to two consecutive flights each carrying more than 10 confirmed cases.

To curb imported cases, the CAAC has implemented flight award and circuit breaker policies based on the number of inbound infections since June, 2020. 

For example, if the number of passengers on the same route testing positive for COVID-19 is zero for three consecutive weeks, one flight per week can be added with up to a maximum of two flights per week. 

In April 2021, the regulator updated the policy based on the more transmissible Delta variant. If the number of passengers testing positive reaches five, the route will be suspended for two weeks, with a four-week suspension issued for flights carrying 10 or more cases. 

As imported cases of the Omicron variant continue to climb in 2022, suspensions are becoming more common. 

Etihad Airways announced on January 9 that it cancelled flight EY862, from Abu Dhabi to Shanghai for a period of two weeks and would assume the cost of nucleic acid testing for infected passengers, according to online news outlet caixin.com. 

The previous week, nine people tested positive on Etihad's flight EY862, with operations cancelled for two weeks.