US further loosens restrictions on Chinese airline flights

The Trump administration further eased plans to restrict passenger flights by mainland Chinese airlines to the US after China said it would permit more passenger flights by the US airlines. The US DoT said Monday it would allow a total of four round-trip flights a week by Chinese airlines, double the level it had set earlier this month. The move came after Chinese authorities said they would allow both of the US airlines seeking to return to China to operate two weekly flights each. “We welcome this action by the Chinese government, as an important first step to fully restore air travel,” the US DoT said. The change announced Monday is further indication that both the US and China are backing down from a standoff over airline service that threatened to halt scheduled passenger service between the two countries. Delta said Monday that it plans to fly from Seattle to Shanghai with a stop in Seoul next week. In July, it will fly once a week from Seattle and once from Detroit. Under an agreement with Chinese authorities, the airline will take passengers’ temperatures before departure, a spokeswoman said. United, which has also sought to resume flights to China, said it welcomes efforts to resume service and aims to relaunch flights in the coming weeks. The new level set by the DoT could accommodate the current level of flying by Chinese passenger airlines. Four Chinese airlines now operate scheduled passenger flights between the two countries.<br/>