Sichuan Airlines' Cairo-Chengdu flight suspended over COVID-19 cases

BEIJING, July 1 (Xinhua) -- China's civil aviation regulator said on Wednesday that a Sichuan Airlines flight from Cairo, Egypt, to Chengdu would be suspended after six passengers tested positive for COVID-19 on a June 27 flight.

The suspension of flight 3U8392, with a duration of one week, starting July 6, was the second of its kind ever imposed following the introduction of a reward and suspension mechanism by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on June 4.

Previously, China Southern Airlines' flight from Dhaka, Bangladesh, to Guangzhou was suspended for four weeks, starting June 22, after 17 passengers tested positive for COVID-19 on a June 11 flight.

According to the CAAC policy, if all inbound passengers of an airline test negative for novel coronavirus for three weeks in a row, the operating airline will be allowed to increase its number of flights to two per week.

If the number of passengers testing positive reaches five, the airline's flights will be suspended for a week. The suspension will last for four weeks if the number of passengers testing positive reaches 10.

The CAAC also said that Sichuan Airlines is not allowed to transfer the original quota of flight 3U8392 to other routes.