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U.S. imposes capacity limits on China's air passenger services
August 20th 2021
The Department of Transportation (DoT) has placed a 40% capacity limit on four passenger flights operated by Chinese carriers into the U.S. during the next four weeks. Read More » The order, effective immediately, was in response to "recent action by Chinese authorities impairing the operating rights of a U.S. carrier". The DoT order referred to a decision by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) to restrict operations of the United Airlines (UA) San Francisco-Shanghai route after five passengers on a July 21 flight tested positive for COVID-19.
Under the CAAC's "circuit breaker" rules, the U.S. airline was given the choice of cancelling two San Francisco–Shanghai flights, operating two flights without passengers, or operating four inbound flights with a maximum passenger load factor of 40%. UA chose the third option. The DoT order said the U.S. government had repeatedly objected to the circuit breaker rules, arguing it placed undue culpability on carriers with respect to travellers that tested positive for COVID-19 after their arrival in China. It also was inconsistent with the air transport agreement between the two countries, the DoT said. "We find that the CAAC’s recent actions impairing United’s operations are adverse to the public interest and warrant proportionate remedial action by the department," the DOT order said. The decision affected one Air China Beijing–Los Angeles flight, one China Eastern Airlines Shanghai–New York flight, one China Southern Airlines Guangzhou–Los Angeles and one Xiamen Airlines Xiamen–Los Angeles flight.
