Trump "Acting" — Proposed Ban on Chinese Airlines Flying Over Russia to the US
Reuters cited a copy of a document reporting that the Donald Trump administration proposed to prohibit Chinese airlines from flying over Russian territory on routes to and from the United States, with the relevant regulations already drafted by the US Department of Transportation.
Reuters noted that in March 2022, Russia was sanctioned by the West due to its special military operation in Ukraine, and in response, Russia closed its airspace to American airlines. Similar restrictions later covered nearly 40 countries, but China was not affected. This situation gave Chinese airlines a competitive advantage — they could use polar routes over Russian territory to shorten flight distances and reduce fuel consumption.
The US Department of Transportation emphasized that banning such routes would eliminate unfair competition between US and Chinese airlines.
If this restriction measure is finally passed, it is expected to affect four Chinese airlines' flights to the US: China Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, and China Southern Airlines. The US Department of Transportation also clearly stated that the ban may come into effect in November 2025.
Previously, the US had approved some Chinese airlines to increase flight frequencies, provided that these airlines agreed not to fly over Russian airspace. In 2024, the US Department of Commerce stated that Chinese passenger airlines could increase the number of weekly flights to and from the US to 50. Before the restrictions were implemented at the beginning of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of flights between China and the US exceeded 150 per week.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7559527143756825129/
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