The Chinese authorities are imposing severe penalties, up to and including a flight ban, on airlines that “import” corona cases. There is increasing resistance to this practice from the home states of various carriers. The US is now limiting capacity.

It will initially hit four airlines based in China. These may only occupy a maximum of 40 percent of the seats with passengers over a period of four weeks. According to a statement by the US government, the following airlines are specifically affected: Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines.

In the USA, no one makes a secret of the fact that it is a kind of "revenge action", because in recent months American airlines have repeatedly received flight bans or capacity restrictions because passengers tested positive for the corona virus after arrival. Other countries also want to react to the measures taken by China and, for their part, “punish” Chinese suppliers accordingly.

Also the Lufthansa subsidiary Austrian Airlines has already received a flight ban for China, because the carrier was accused of “importing” too many cases. In this context, the local civil aviation authority even issued its own press release.