By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Transportation Department said Tuesday https://www.regulations.gov/document/DOT-OST-2020-0052-0078 it had approved the bid of China Eastern Airlines (NYSE:) Corp to temporarily move New York-to-Shanghai flights over COVID-19 measures to a different Chinese airport.

China Eastern requested that the department grant permission to China Eastern to transfer existing two-weekly Shanghai westbound passenger flight from New York to China’s Fuzhou Change International Airport, Fuji Province. This will continue through April.

China Eastern stated earlier that due to “evolving Coronavirus Pandemic Control Measures in Shanghai Region, China Eastern has been instructed” by Chinese aviation officials “to divert Shanghaibound passenger flights arriving from U.S.A.S.A. at certain alternative airports within China.”

China’s aviation regulator stated earlier this month that it would redirect 106 international flights arriving in Shanghai from March 21-May 1 to other cities due to COVID-19.

Air China (OTC), China Eastern and Shanghai Airlines are among the airlines affected, as well as Juneau Air, Spring Airlines, China Civil Aviation Administration of China.

On Tuesday, China’s most populous city tightened the first phase of a two-stage COVID lockdown, asking some residents to stay indoors unless they are getting tested as the number of new daily cases exceeded 4,400.

Shanghai is the financial center of the world, with 26 million inhabitants, is currently in the second day of lockdown. To allow staggered testing, authorities have divided Shanghai roughly by the Huangpu River.

China and America have been in conflict since early 2020 over international flights and other restrictions between their countries.

The U.S. government announced in January that 44 China-bound flight from America would be suspended by four Chinese airlines. This was due to China’s decision not to allow certain U.S. carriers to fly over COVID-19 issues.