Beijing, Nov 14 (IANS): China's civil aviation regulator announced on Friday the suspension for one week of the Bangladeshi US-Bangla Airlines Dhaka-Guangzhou flight and the Himalaya Airlines Kathmandu-Chongqing flight after several passengers tested positive for Covid-19 on recent flights.

Six passengers tested positive on Bangladeshi US-Bangla Airlines flight BS325 on November 1, while six tested positive on flight H9787 of Himalaya Airlines, a Nepal-China joint venture, on November 4, said the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

The suspension of the US-Bangla Airlines flight will start from November 16, while that of the Himalaya Airlines flight will start from November 23, and both will last for one week, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The CAAC introduced a reward and suspension mechanism on June 4 to further contain the spread of Covid-19.

According to the CAAC policy, if all inbound passengers on an airline test negative for Covid-19 for three weeks in a row, the operating airline will be allowed to increase its number of flights to two per week.

If the number of passengers testing positive reaches five, the airline's flights will be suspended for a week. The suspension will last for four weeks if the number of passengers testing positive reaches 10.