The United States government responded to Beijing's disallowance of US airlines in China. By June 16, 2020, the US would also ban passenger flights from China into the country. However, Washington clarified that it will still negotiate on the air travel issue between China.
The Department of Transportation filed an order that would ban passenger flights from China to the US. The airlines covered by the mandate are China Eastern, Air China, Hainan Airlines, and China Southern Airlines. These operators have continued flying between the US and China during the pandemic. The number of flights allowed, however, was significantly lower.
US President Donald Trump has yet to approve the order. The Chinese embassy in Washington also refused to comment on the issue. However, earlier this year, the embassy did not know that the travel restrictions were fair since travel was halted by all airlines during the pandemic.
The Department of Transportation that the current travel issues must be made with action to restore a competitive balance in the travel industry. It noted that there must be fair and equal opportunity among US and Chinese air carriers. It also added that the goal is not perpetuation, but to build a better travel relationship and improve the travel industry between the two countries.
Last March, Beijing said that domestic and foreign airlines should be limited one weekly flight between China and the US, or with China and other countries. It also claimed that flight carriers were limited to maintain their level of services offered.
During the same time, the US Department of Transportation also ordered the effective ban of US airlines in China. US airlines, on the other hand, voluntarily suspended the service between the two countries last February due to pandemic restrictions. Trump set the order to ban the entry of Chinese travels into the US to prevent the spread of the virus.
If the order would push through, travel between China and the US would be disrupted, including trace and other exchanges. According to the director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program Daniel Kliman, there is a clear showing of the de-coupling of China and the US. He claimed that the US's restriction of technology sales in the China-US trade war as accelerated the tensions between the countries and that this affects the travel industry as well.
In the past few months, China loosened restrictions on charter flights from other countries. However, the travel ban on US flights remained in force. Officials claimed that the government would also increase general flights if the government gets a better hold of the outbreak.
