United Airlines. Photo: VCG

The US will loosen travel restrictions on people from the Chinese mainland from Monday, and it will revoke the earlier 14-day quarantine requirement.

According to a notice issued by the US Department of Homeland Security, it will terminate arrival restrictions on flights carrying persons who had recently travelled from, or were otherwise present within, the Chinese mainland. 

Other countries, such as Iran, the UK and Ireland are also covered in this filing. 

The move could speed up personnel exchanges between China and the US, but the number of passengers depends more on the number of flights, Zheng Hongfeng, CEO of industry data provider VariFlight, told the Global Times on Sunday. 

Last month, the US announced it will double its flights to China to eight per week, equivalent to the total number of flights now permitted by the Chinese aviation authorities for US carriers, according to the US Department of Transportation. 

According to the statement, the two US carriers currently operating passenger flights to China - United Airlines and Delta Air Lines - were granted operating permission by the Civil Aviation Administration of China to increase their service frequency from twice a week to four times a week. 

United Airlines flights from San Francisco to Shanghai increased to four times per week from September 4. Delta Air Lines also added one flight to its Seattle to Shanghai and its Detroit to Shanghai routes from August 24.

According to a notice released on September 8 by the US agency, flights from China are only allowed entry to the US at seven airports, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Atlanta and Honolulu.

Travelers from China to the US should undergo a 14-day quarantine at home or in a hotel, and they need to avoid social activities for 14 days, according to the note on September 8.

Global Times