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.
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.
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.
