Ethiopian Airlines will have to wait until 2021 to fly to China after its initial ban was extended by Chinese authorities.
China first banned Ethiopian airlines from its airspace in August 2020 after six passengers traveling from Addis Ababa to Shanghai Pudong tested positive for Coronavirus.
At the time, Ethiopian airlines was slapped with a five-week ban, the ban was however lifted after only one week.
China enforced a second ban after five passengers on Ethiopian Airlines tested positive for Covid-19 on October 6th, while another 10 tested positive a week later on October 13th.
The second ban on Ethiopian Airlines started on October 26th and was set to last just five weeks.
But even before the second ban could take effect, some 11 passengers traveling on Ethiopian Airlines from Ethiopia to China tested positive for Covid-19 on October 20th.
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Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) decided to add four weeks to the original five-week ban on Ethiopian Airlines as a result of the latest Covid-19 positive test.
Ethiopian Airlines’ plan to launch a new route between Addis Ababa and Beijing has since been halted as a result of CAAC ban.
CAAC ban means that Ethiopian Airlines will have to wait until at least January 1st 2021 to resume with the flights to China.
CAAC has set stringent rules when it comes to giving out suspensions in regard to Covid-19. Any flight can be suspended for one week if five individuals on the same flight test positive on arrival in China. If the number of positive on the same flight reaches 10, the suspension can last four weeks.
China’s new policy came into effect in June, it is referred to as a “circuit breaker” policy. The aim is to prevent other infectious passengers from arriving in China.
The new Chinese policy also restricts the number of flights arriving in China. Foreign airlines can only operate one route into the country once a week.
Airlines can earn more regular flights if they consistently have zero Covid-19 positive cases on flights. After three consecutive weeks of no positive Coronavirus tests, foreign airlines can up their flights to twice weekly.
The CAAC policy is meant to benefit airlines that require negative tests before boarding or those that originate in countries with a low number of Covid-19 cases.
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