By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The Biden administration criticized China for cancelling a greater number of US-China flights due to passengers later testing positive for COVID-19. It warned that it might take appropriate action.

“China’s actions are inconsistent with its obligations under the U.S.-China Air Transport Agreement. A spokesperson from the U.S. Transportation Department (USDOT), stated that they are in dialogue with China on the matter and would continue to exercise regulatory authority if necessary.

China ordered Wednesday the suspension of six additional U.S. to China flights following a spike in COVID-19-positive passengers. This amounted to 70 cancellations this year, a drastic reduction in flight schedules.

This latest suspension resulted in the cancellation of two United Airlines flights between San Francisco and Shanghai as well as four China Southern Airlines flights departing from Los Angeles to Guangzhou.

Washington, DC: The Chinese Embassy has not yet commented.

Airlines for America (NYSE:), American Airlines NASDAQ:) said that U.S. carrier are “in communication with the U.S. government to find a pathway forward that minimizes traveler impact.”

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Washington and Beijing have fought over the provision of air services.

Prior to these latest cancellations, there were only three U.S. carriers and four Chinese operators operating around 20 flights per week. That’s a lot less than the number of over 100 between countries prior the pandemic.

China is suspending all flights to other countries. This includes six flights that were scheduled from France on Wednesday and Canada’s total of seven flights.

As Omicron variant infections continue to rise in America, the U.S. has seen an increase in flights being scrapped since December.

China is now almost closing its borders to foreign travelers. This reduces total international flight to 200 per week or 22% of levels pre-pandemic, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China in September.