BEIJING (Reuters) – The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said in a statement on Friday that it would suspend four flights from the United States to Shanghai – bringing the total number of flights canceled so far to 74. year — after the discovery of positive COVID-19 cases among passengers on previous flights.
Two American Airlines flights from Dallas and two Delta Air flights from Detroit will be canceled starting Jan. 24 after seven and nine passengers respectively tested positive for COVID-19 on recent flights.
In recent weeks, the CAAC has ordered the cancellation of around 70 scheduled flights from the United States, a measure strongly criticized on Wednesday by the administration of US President Joe Biden, which warned of possible retaliatory measures.
Separately, 26 flights have been suspended from other parts of the world, including Melbourne, Frankfurt, Paris, Toronto and Cairo, with flight disruptions expected to continue into February.
This recent wave of flight cancellations diminishes an already drastically reduced list for air traffic in China, with just 200 international flights per week in September — or 2% of the pre-pandemic level — according to the CAAC.
Shanghai, the destination city for the majority of international flights to the country, reported two local confirmed COVID-19 cases and three asymptomatic cases on Thursday, all linked to infection imported from the United States.
(Report Stella Qiu, Judy Hua and Tony Munroe; French version Dina Kartit, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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