A Boeing 787-9 passenger jet of Air China is towed at Beijing Capital International Airport. File photo: IC

A flight originally scheduled to set off from Paris for Beijing was cancelled after it failed to obtain approval from the French Civil Aviation Authority, according to a statement published by the Chinese Embassy in France on Monday. 

Air China flight CA934, scheduled to travel from Paris to Beijing on Wednesday, was cancelled shortly after an announcement from the French government on Monday that it is reducing flights from China to only one passenger flight to France per week. The French government said its move was in response to China's restriction on French flights, according to the website of the French Embassy in China. 

The Chinese embassy said France's decision was "baffling." It was made after Shanghai had agreed to accept a second weekly flight from Air France and applied for approval from the Chinese aviation authority, according to a report from Nouvelles d'Europe, a Chinese newspaper based in France. 

China has agreed to allow Air France to operate three weekly flights to China, according to the report, citing the embassy, and the airline's Chinese partners have offered to operate its Shanghai flights. 

The Chinese Embassy in France warned that passengers should prepare for "huge uncertainties" when flying from or through France to China, and said it hopes France will review its decision and return to negotiations. 

Global Times