China, US made progress on regulation of mutual flights

On Thursday, the Chinese authorities appeared to retreat partially from an escalating dispute with the United States over air travel between the two countries, announcing that foreign airlines would be allowed to operate one flight per week in Chinese cities. Report informs citing The New York Times.

The announcement, from China’s civil aviation regulator, followed the Trump administration’s decision on Wednesday that it would block Chinese passenger airlines from flying into or out of the United States starting on June 16. That move was a response to a similar ban by the Chinese government on American carriers, which further caused tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.

Foreign airlines that were barred from operating in China during the pandemic — which includes all American airlines except those carrying cargo — will be allowed to choose one Chinese city from an approved list to operate one flight each week, beginning June 8, the announcement said.

Relations between the countries have deteriorated sharply in recent weeks as officials scuffled over the origin of the pandemic and China’s move to tighten its authority over Hong Kong, a semiautonomous city. With the U.S. presidential election just five months away, President Trump and his campaign have taken a much tougher stand against China, blaming its government for allowing the coronavirus to turn into a pandemic and wreck the American economy.

The aviation dispute has threatened to chill economic relations further and disrupt business ties between the United States and China. Flights between the countries were already sharply curtailed by the pandemic and Chinese restrictions on foreign airlines that effectively halted trips by United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and American Airlines, the major U.S. carriers that go there.