[Global Times reporter Zhao Juejuan] The Chinese Consulate General in Houston announced on the 19th that a temporary flight from Houston to Tianjin was canceled on the same day by Air China. On the 17th, the Chinese Consulate General in New York also issued a notice twice about the postponement of a temporary flight from New York to Chongqing. The reason for the delay of the above two flights is that the temporary flight plan has not been approved by the US government. In this regard, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on the 19th that China regrets this and hopes that the United States will complete the relevant procedures for the return of the student flight as soon as possible.
An emergency notice issued by the official website of the Chinese Consulate General in Houston on the 19th showed that CA996's temporary flight CA996 was originally scheduled to take off from Houston to Tianjin at 1:10 pm Central America time on May 19th. Since the temporary flight plan has not been approved by the US government so far, it is temporarily cancelled, and the follow-up arrangements are to be determined. On the 18th, the Chinese Consulate General in Houston issued a notice saying that the flight may have a significant delay in execution. It is recommended that the relevant personnel who have purchased the temporary flight ticket pay attention to the relevant situation and arrange their personal itinerary properly.
The same thing happened in New York the day before. The Chinese Consulate General in New York issued a notice on the 17th stating that Air China’s temporary flight CA566 was scheduled to take off from New York to Chongqing at 8 pm Eastern Time on May 17th. Because the temporary flight plan has not been approved by the US government, the flight may be delayed . Later in the day, the New York Consulate General issued a notice again, CA566 flight was delayed until the 18th.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular press conference on the 19th that because the United States did not approve the relevant flight application, the flight was forced to be delayed, and China regrets this. Some of the Chinese students who intend to take a temporary flight do not live in the city where the flight departs. In order to take the flight, they have already returned their dormitories and housing. The temporary flight delay caused great inconvenience to these children. The Chinese Embassy and Consulate in the United States has assisted in arranging and resolving it. "We hope that the United States will proceed from the humanitarian spirit and complete the relevant procedures for the flight to pick up the students as soon as possible, so that Chinese students can return home smoothly." Zhao Lijian said.
On the 9th of this month, the Chinese Embassy and Consulate in the United States conducted a thorough investigation on the willingness to take a new round of temporary flights. According to a notice issued by the Chinese Embassy in the United States, considering that some students studying in the United States do have difficulties and need to return home urgently, according to the deployment of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the embassy and consulate in the United States will continue to assist some students studying in the United States in difficult circumstances to return home. Earlier, China opened the first round of temporary flights dedicated to international students from April 11th to May 2nd. It received 8 flights in 4 batches and received more than 1,500 international students from primary and secondary schools in the United States.
According to information published by the official websites of the Chinese embassy and consulates in the United States, a number of temporary flights have recently been arranged to continue to pick up overseas students to return home.
Source: https://www.sohu.com/a/396366496_162522