Photo: Xinhua

China's civil aviation regulator on Monday issued a suspension order on Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight BS325 from Dhaka to Guangzhou for one week after five passengers tested positive for COVID-19 - the third suspension since the rule was released in June and the first on a foreign airline.

"On June 28, five passengers on flight BS325 from Dhaka to Guangzhou operated by Biman Bangladesh Airlines tested positive for COVID-19, which has triggered the 'circuit breaker' mechanism," the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said Monday.

To prevent imported cases of COVID-19, the CAAC instituted a reward and punishment mechanism for all airlines. If carriers have no passengers on flights to China testing positive for COVID-19 for three consecutive weeks, they will be allowed to add one more weekly flight route to China.

If the number of passengers on a flight to China tested positive reaches five, the airline's flight to China will be suspended for one week, and if the number reaches 10, operations will be suspended for 4 weeks.

On June 14, the regulator suspended China Southern Airlines' flight CZ392 from Dhaka to Guangzhou for four weeks starting from June 22, after 17 passengers on the flight tested positive.

On June 27, six passengers on flight 3U8392 from Cairo to Chengdu, operated by Sichuan Airlines, tested positive, and the regulator issued a one-week suspension for the flight starting from July 6, the second such suspension.