Senators urge halt to Chinese carriers overflying Russia on U.S. flights

The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the committee's top Republican urged the Biden administration to halt Chinese airlines and other non-American carriers from flying over Russia on US routes. Senator Robert Menendez, a Democrat, and James Risch, the committee's top Republican, in a letter seen by Reuters urged the Biden administration to ensure no commercial airline overflying Russian territory arrives or departs from a US airport. It also encouraged the administration to "strongly and publicly discourage US persons, citizens, and permanent residents from traveling on flights over Russian territory." US airlines and other foreign carriers are barred from flying over Russia. Russia banned airlines from the United States from overflights after the US barred Russia flights in March 2022 following its invasion of Ukraine. "An additional byproduct of the current situation is that it puts US airlines at a competitive disadvantage relative to airlines from other countries willing to do business with Russia," the senators wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg that was copied to White House's national security adviser Jake Sullivan. The State Department declined to comment. US air carriers currently serve Shanghai from the United States through a stop in Incheon, South Korea, while Chinese carriers serve the United States directly, flying through Russian airspace.<br/>