China’s aviation regulator has temporarily suspended three more airlines after positive Covid-19 cases were found in passengers on their flights.
It said there were six positive cases each on inbound Shanghai flights operated by Etihad Airways and China Eastern Airways.
A SriLankan Airlines service from Colombo to Shanghai carried 23 positive cases.
All took place in the first week of August.
Shanghai flights from overseas by Etihad and China Eastern are suspended for one week.
SriLankan was hit with a four-week suspension.
China has implemented a ‘carrot and stick’ approach by suspending flights if five or more passengers test positive on a flight, resulting in a one-week ban.
If there are more than 10 the suspension lasts a month.
If an airline has no positive cases on its weekly flights for three consecutive weeks, it is able to increase the number of flights to twice a week.
The regulator introduced the policy in June and has dished out several suspensions since then.
Written by Ray Montgomery, Asia Pacific editor
