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Ethiopian Airlines has extended the ban on its flight from Addis Ababa to Shanghai Pudong. The flight has already been banned for five weeks, but Chinese authorities agreed to an extension as more passengers tested positive for COVID-19. The ban continues until at least January 1.S t, 2021.
Ethiopian Airlines received its first temporary suspension in August after six people tested positive. However, the ban lasted only one week. China applied the second ban because five passengers on flight ET684 on October 6 tested positive for COVID-19. Another ten tested positive a week later, on October 13. As of October 26, it was established that the ban would last only five weeks.
However, 11 other passengers tested positive on October 20. This means that Ethiopian Airlines is responsible for transporting at least 32 COVID-infected people to China since August. As a result of the latest tests, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has added four weeks to the original five-week ban.
As a result of the ban, Ethiopian has delayed the launch of its new flight connecting Addis Ababa with Bejing until January 1, 2021.
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CAAC Policy
The Chinese authorities have established some very clear rules and policies when it comes to granting suspensions. First, any flight can be suspended for a week if five people on the same flight test positive upon arrival in China. If the number of positives on the same flight reaches ten, the suspension can last four weeks.
The new policy went into effect in June and is known as the “circuit breaker” policy. The goal is to prevent other infectious passengers from arriving. In addition to introducing flight bans, the new policy restricts the number of flights arriving in China.
Initially, foreign airlines can only operate a route into the country once a week. Airlines can win more regular flights if they consistently have zero positive cases on flights. After three consecutive weeks without positive tests, foreign airlines can increase their flights to twice a week. Therefore, the policy lends itself to benefit airlines that require negative tests before boarding or those that originate in countries with a small number of cases.
Other suspensions
So far, China has been fairly consistent in enforcing its policy on domestic and foreign airlines. Flights operated by China Eastern Airlines, Russian airline Aeroflot, Etihad Airways, Juneyao Air and Sri Lankan Airlines have been temporarily banned. According to CH-Aviation.com, even more bans are expected to occur this week, including an Emirates flight to Guangzhou and China Southern tow flights to Dhaka and Manila.
Ethiopian is very likely not the last airline to receive a ban. Although, at the moment, it has certainly received the longest ban. China is clearly taking recidivism very seriously.
At the time of publication, Ethiopian Airlines has not responded to a request for comment. We will update this article if a comment is provided.
What do you think of Ethiopia’s expanded ban? Do you think China’s new policy is working? Let us know what you think in the comments.
