[Text/Observer Network Xiong Chaoran] Amy Kerong is raging around the world, the United States, where the epidemic control is relatively poor, and a number of flights to China have been fused. On January 14, CNN reported after compiling government announcements and flight schedules that all flights from the United States to China would be cancelled or suspended for at least two weeks due to China's relevant aviation regulations.
CNN's report also linked the situation to the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics, which opens on Feb. 4, reporting that in addition to the athletes on the plane, those trying to fly from the United States to China may soon face an "unimaginable scenario" from next week, with no commercial flights to China, part of China's efforts to exclude the coronavirus ahead of the Winter Olympics.
But the report added: "As of Friday (14th), it seems that only two flights are still eligible to operate during this period, one of which is a United Airlines flight." ”
Previously, according to statistics, since January 6 this year, the Civil Aviation Administration of China has issued flight circuit breaker instructions five times and cancelled 142 inbound flights, including the United States. However, dissatisfied with China's circuit breaker of flights to China, the United States, which is currently very serious about the epidemic, not only does not self-reflect, but also threatens to "take action". At the end of last year, a Flight to Shanghai from Delta Air Lines returned halfway for its own reasons, and it was also unreasonable to blame China's epidemic prevention policy.
Screenshot of CNN report
According to data from the application "Air Travel Vertical" launched by the Civil Aviation Information Network of China, from December 24, 2021 to January 12, 2022, more than one-third of the 9,356 international flights planned to China were cancelled, which is already equivalent to a fraction of the pre-epidemic level.
CNN said that during this period, more and more passengers on board flew from the United States to China after flying from the United States to China, and more and more passengers tested positive for the new crown virus, thus triggering this wave of cancellations and suspensions before the Spring Festival, China's most important traditional festival, and the Beijing Winter Olympics are about to arrive at the same time.
Before the pandemic, there were about 100 flights per week between China and the United States, but now it has dropped to about 20 per week. There are three American airlines flying this route and four in China. Of the three U.S. airlines flying to and from China, Delta Air Lines (DAL) has been unable to operate normally due to its own problems in response to cleaning needs, United Airlines (UAL) has been suspended twice, and American Airlines (AAL) is also on the verge of fusing.
Infographic: Delta Aircraft from social media
At this stage, China's pressure on "foreign defense imports" has been very large, and the origin of the epidemic in many places has also come from overseas imports. The three major U.S. airlines fly 10 times a week to Shanghai, China's largest city. However, at present, the number of imported cases reported in Shanghai every day is increasing, and the recent confirmed cases of local covid-19 in Shanghai are related to a case of asymptomatic infection imported from abroad reported on January 11, which belongs to the same chain of transmission.
In particular, the United States, where the number of new infections in the United States has soared to an all-time high since Last December. On January 3 this year, the number of new confirmed cases of new coronavirus in the United States exceeded 1 million, setting a world record for the number of new confirmed cases in a single day. On January 10, the number of new confirmed cases in the United States reached a staggering 1.13 million (and the statistical caliber showed 1.46 million cases), once again breaking the global record, and the epidemic was once again out of control.
On June 4, 2020, the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued the Notice of the Civil Aviation Administration of China on Adjusting International Passenger Flights in accordance with the needs of the prevention and control of overseas imports of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, and adopted circuit breaker measures for flights that trigger flight circuit breaker conditions.
According to the circuit breaker policy issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China in April 2021, whether the inbound flight is cancelled is directly linked to the confirmed imported cases diagnosed abroad within 7 days after the flight enters the country. The number of confirmed cases on inbound flights reaches 5, which will trigger circuit breaker measures. The details are as follows:
1. If the number of confirmed passengers on a single-entry flight of an airline reaches 5, it can choose from the following two ways of restricting operation:
(1) Flight circuit breaker measures: from the fourth week of the flight's entry, the flight operation will be suspended for 2 weeks and the reward flight will be cancelled;
(2) Measures to control the load factor operation: From the fourth week of the flight's entry, restrict the flight from running at a load factor of not more than 40% for 4 weeks, and cancel the reward flight.
2. If the number of confirmed passengers on an airline's single-entry flight reaches 10, the operation of the flight shall be suspended for 4 weeks from the fourth week of flight entry, and the reward flight shall be cancelled. If the number of confirmed passengers in two consecutive flights reaches 10 cases, the current week will be immediately circuited and the operation will be suspended for 8 weeks.
3. If the number of confirmed passengers on an airline's single-entry flight reaches 30, it will be immediately circuited down that week and the flight will be suspended for 4 weeks.
According to the website of the Civil Aviation Administration of China on January 12, on January 11, the Civil Aviation Administration issued circuit breaker instructions to a number of Chinese and foreign flights. Under the directive, six U.S. to China flights will be suspended in the coming weeks. So far this year, 70 Flights between China and the United States have been cancelled.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China issued a circuit breaker directive on January 12
According to statistics, since January 6 this year, the Civil Aviation Administration of China has issued flight circuit breaker instructions five times, canceling 142 inbound flights, involving the United States, France, Canada, the Netherlands and other countries.
However, in the face of large-scale flight cancellations, the Biden administration in the United States did not reflect, but issued a threat, claiming that a response might be taken. According to Reuters on January 13, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Transportation said: "China's actions are not in line with its obligations under the U.S.-China air transportation agreement." We are in contact with [the Chinese government] in this regard and we reserve the right to take appropriate regulatory measures." ”
Reuters reported screenshots on Jan. 13
Meanwhile, Airlines for America, a trade group representing United, Delta, American Airlines and other airlines, said U.S. airlines are "communicating with the U.S. and Chinese governments to determine the least impact on passengers." ”
As for this "threat" and "retaliation" in the civil aviation policy of the United States since the epidemic, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying pointed out as early as last August that the circuit breaker measure for international scheduled passenger flights is an important measure to reduce the risk of cross-border spread of the epidemic, which treats Chinese and foreign airlines equally and is fair and open. On the Sino-US route, China's domestic airlines such as Air China and China Eastern Airlines have all melted, and for airlines that have not triggered the circuit breaker conditions, china has never implemented this measure.
China's "circuit breaker mechanism" in the field of civil aviation aims to reduce the risk of cross-border spread of the epidemic, and triggers a large number of "circuit breakers", which is entirely due to the us side's own domestic epidemic prevention failure. But in CNN's report, the media, like the Biden administration, blamed China for the incident.
Since March 2020, China has stepped up border management and prevention and control, and continues to adhere to the "zero-clearance policy", CNN claims that China is the world's second largest air travel market after the United States, although international travel to other parts of the world has begun to rebound, but the number of flights to and from China has decreased significantly.
The report mentioned that at the end of December last year, a Delta Air Lines flight from Seattle to Shanghai suddenly returned halfway, and some foreign media claimed that the return incident was caused by the adjustment of China's epidemic prevention regulations. However, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian has previously refuted this statement, which is inconsistent with the facts.
A photograph of luggage piled up on Delta's cancelled flight at Seattle Airport by a Chinese student
Zhao Lijian also said that the recent shortage of manpower in VARIOUS AIRLINES in the United States has been prominent, and the crew is afraid of the occurrence of attendance under the epidemic, which has led to the large-scale cancellation of domestic and international flights in the United States. Recently, a number of flights from the United States to China have been postponed or cancelled, American Airlines has suddenly announced the cancellation of flights only a few hours before the take-off of the aircraft, and Delta Air Lines flights have even returned after more than half of the flight, bringing huge losses to Chinese passengers.
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