US scraps plan to ban Chinese airline flights, allows just two round trips weekly
- The dispute between Washington and Beijing over air travel limits is just one of many points of tension in the bilateral relationship
- US-China air routes are among the most lucrative in the world, but the airline industry has been decimated by the coronavirus pandemic

The US government has abandoned plans for an all-out ban on flights by Chinese carriers into the country but will still heavily restrict incoming services after China eased its own limits on US operators.
Under restrictions announced by the Department of Transportation (DOT) on Friday, a total of two round-trip passenger flights operated by Chinese carriers will be allowed weekly to and from the US.
While it was pulling back from the original plan to suspend all Chinese passenger flights as a result of Beijing’s relaxation, the DOT complained on Friday that Beijing’s moves had not gone far enough, and continued “to impede the ability of US carriers to ‘achieve equality of opportunity’”.
“We find that these circumstances continue to warrant the Department’s action to restore a competitive balance and fair and equal opportunity among US and Chinese air carriers in the scheduled passenger service marketplace,” the department said in its order, which is effective immediately.