Air France has obtained a second weekly Paris-Shanghai flight, operational from next week, the French Embassy in China said on Thursday, a few days after strong French pressure to do so. China, the first country where the new coronavirus was spotted at the end of 2019, has drastically reduced its air links with the rest of the world since the end of March, for fear of the arrival of patients from Covid-19.
France had decided to take retaliatory measures
The Asian country, where the epidemic is practically eradicated with zero deaths since mid-May, however authorizes since June 8 several foreign companies to ensure a weekly connection from and to its territory. Since China has three large companies flying internationally (Air China, China Eastern, China Southern), the latter have so far each been able to fly one China-France flight per week - three in total.
France wants to obtain the same rights for Air France. That is to say three weekly connections with the Asian country. And not just one, as has been the case so far. Faced with the supposed slowness of the steps, France had decided a few days ago to take a retaliatory measure: limit to a weekly flight the service of French territory by Chinese companies, in the name of "reciprocity". Beijing had denounced an "incomprehensible" decision.
"Positive discussions continue to increase the number of air frequencies"
In its statement published on Thursday, the French Embassy in China "welcomes the authorization given to Air France-KLM to operate from next week a second weekly connection from Paris to Shanghai". It also evokes "a first weekly connection from Amsterdam to Shanghai". "Positive discussions are continuing to increase the number of air frequencies between France and China, in accordance with the bilateral agreement on air services," said the embassy.
The announcement comes the day after a discussion between Wang Yi, the Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Emmanuel Bonne, the diplomatic advisor to French President Emmanuel Macron. "During the dialogue, the two sides reached an agreement on the resumption as soon as possible of regular flights between China and France," the new China news agency said on Thursday.