4/24 News Updates | Control and Prevention on COVID-19
In order to help serve and protect you during the Coronavirus outbreak, AmCham Southwest China will regularly disseminate firsthand, up-to-date, professional and official information as they become available.
COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread around the world. According to statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO), over 200 countries have diagnosed confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection, over 200 million cases of infection have been confirmed outside of China, and death totals have exceeded 100,000. Many countries have strengthened border control to prevent the spread of the virus, along with the implementation of strict quarantine policies. There has been great reduction of international flights, and some countries have gone into complete shutdown.
Under such conditions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly advise that Chinese citizens evaluative the risks of cross infection, or being stranded overseas. Those that remain in China should avoid international travel, and those currently overseas should avoid travels. Chinese citizens overseas may contact Chinese embassy and consulates in their locality for help and protection.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs global service emergency hotline (available 24h): +86-10-12308 ; +86-10-59913991
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China
Source：WeChat Official Account “Chongqingwaishi”
Administrations of civil aviation, supervisory bureaus and transport airlines:
To ensure the smooth transportation of goods during the epidemic as well as guide the operation of airlines loading cargo in the cabin, our department issued the operation safety bulletin “Transportation of Cargo Loaded in the Cabin” (OSB-2020-01). Please companies make safety assessments when exchanging passengers to cargos in accordance with BULLETIN to make sure the safety.
It is hereby noticed.
Attachment: “Cargo Shipment through Passenger Flight” (OSB-2020-01) (Please click “Read More” to get)
Department of Flight Standards of CAAC
On April 21, Civil Aviation Administration of China issued Operation Safety Bulletin on “Cargo Shipment through Passenger Flight” (hereinafter referred to as the “Bulletin”) about the transportation of cargo loaded in the cabin. From the aspects of cargo, ground operation, operation, etc., it conducts a risk assessment on the safety of passenger-to-cargo transportation and put forward specific recommended measures, instructing the carrier before carrying out the transportation of the cargo carried in the passenger cabin to make a full assessment, so as to ensure that operates in accordance with the law and regulations with the highest level of safety and in the public interest.
Affected by the epidemic situation, the domestic and international air transport markets have undergone significant changes. In the short term, the passenger transport market has declined sharply, and freight demand has increased dramatically. In order to cope with the sudden market changes in a short period of time and to protect the needs of material transportation, in addition to using freighter and passenger aircraft for cargo transportation, airlines can also adopt the “passenger-to-cargo” method for material transportation. In order to provide guidance and possible technical support to the carrier and safety risk assessment related information on the operation of loading cargo in the passenger cabin of the passenger aircraft, and to ensure the safety of such operations, Department of flight standards of CAAC has issued relevant recommendations.
According to the “Bulletin”, the design of modern passenger aircraft does not take into account the situation of transporting a large amount of cargo in the passenger cabin. The passenger cabin of the aircraft is obviously different from the belly cargo cabin or the main cargo cabin of the aircraft. There is no design and installation of smoke / fire detection and automatic fire extinguishing systems. The operational risks still need to be explored and summarized. The carrier must make up for the actual operational situation that not considered in the aircraft design through comprehensive and detailed risk assessment and mitigation measures, and must continuously pay attention to and record the newly identified risk sources during the operation and take mitigation measures in a timely manner. Therefore, the carrier should make a full assessment before carrying out the transportation of cargo, especially dismantling the passenger seat for loading cargoes. In addition, before carrying out cargo operations in the cabin, the carrier should conduct a detailed safety risk assessment to identify hazards, assess and take mitigation measures.
The “Bulletin” also provides detailed recommended measures for such operations in terms of dangerous goods, cargo preparation, loading location, weight balance, cargo loading and unloading, cargo fixing, operation personnel composition, operation training, etc.
Civil Aviation Administration of China
English translation is only a reference.