US Commercial Flights: Covid-19 cases around the world are growing rapidly. Meanwhile, the US has decided to stop flights to China for the time being.
The US will ban all commercial flights to China from January 19. Efforts are being made to reduce the spread of coronavirus infection ahead of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. According to media reports, there will be no commercial flight to China from next week before the Beijing Winter Olympics.
US flights to China will be stopped for the time being.
All flights from the US to China have either been canceled or are likely to be suspended due to Chinese aviation regulations, starting January 19, according to media reports.
More than a third of the 9,356 international flights departing for China from December 24 to January 12 were already cancelled in view of the severe outbreak of the pandemic.
What is the ‘Circuit Breaker’ rule?
Since June last year, China’s civil aviation administration has introduced an alleged “circuit-breaker” rule for international flights. According to this rule, if 5 or more passengers are found covid-positive when they arrive in China, the flight is automatically suspended for two weeks. Similarly, if 10 or more passengers are found to be covid positive, the duration of flight suspension increases.
China has used its “circuit-breaker” rules as an important step to reduce the risk of cross-border spread of the pandemic. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, these rules apply equally to both Chinese and foreign airlines. It may be noted that China had largely sealed its borders in March 2020 and maintained its Zero Covid strategy. Flights to and from China – China has the world’s second-largest air travel network after the US.
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