About 12 hours after the United States issued an order suspending Chinese passenger airlines from flying to the US from June 16, with an option to take effect earlier, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said it would allow foreign carriers 1x weekly flights to a city of their choosing from June 8.

The CAAC did not refer to the US Department of Transportation (DOT) order, issued on June 3, in its June 4 statement, but it said that non-Chinese carriers currently barred from entering the country “can choose an entry city with reception capability” from a list of approved cities and operate one international passenger flight every week.

If passengers test negative for coronavirus for three consecutive weeks, the airline will be permitted to progress to 2x weekly frequencies, the authority said. However, if five or more passengers test positive, the airline must suspend its route for one week. The suspension rises to four weeks if ten passengers or more test positive.

As previously reported, the CAAC slashed inbound international flights on March 26, ostensibly in an effort to halt infections carried in by arriving passengers. US passenger airlines had already stopped all flights to China by March 12 and have since been unable to resume. Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) and United Airlines (UA, Chicago O'Hare) have both asked to restart flights to China in June.

Washington vowed on its June 3 order to ban Chinese airlines from flying to the United States in retailiation for Beijing’s curbs on American carriers.

Responding to Beijing’s “failure [...] to permit US carriers to exercise the full extent of their bilateral right to conduct scheduled passenger air services to and from China,” the docket said that the DOT “is suspending the scheduled passenger operations of all Chinese carriers to and from the United States.”

The order will become effective on June 16 “or otherwise immediately upon affirmative approval by the President of the United States.” But it will reconsider the order, it added, if the CAAC adjusts its own policies.

“Our overriding goal is not the perpetuation of this situation but rather an improved environment,” it stressed.

“We support and appreciate the US government’s actions to enforce our rights and ensure fairness,” Delta said in a statement on June 3, while United commented: “We look forward to resuming passenger service between the United States and China when the regulatory environment allows us to do so.”

The CAAC conceded last month that it was considering a broadening of the range of international flights, following public criticism of its policies, which have led to high ticket prices for Chinese nationals stranded overseas.