Delta to resume flights Thursday between U.S. and China

June 22 (UPI) -- Delta Air Lines said Monday it will resume flights Thursday between the United States and China, which have been suspended since February due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Flights will restart between Seattle and Shanghai-Pudong, China through Seoul-Incheon, South Korea, beginning Thursday, and operating twice a week, Delta said in a statement.

Delta noted that it is the first airline to resume flights between the United States and China since the halt.

Starting in July, Delta added that it would also operate flights once a week from Seattle and Detroit through Seoul, Incheon.

The move comes after the U.S. Department of Transportation announced last week that U.S. carriers could fly four weekly flights to China.

"With a mission to connect the world, Delta is committed to getting our customers to their destinations safely and confidently, especially at this critical time," Wong Hong, Delta's president of Greater China and Singapore said in a statement. "We are implementing unprecedented health and safety measures and practices, so customers are assured of ease and safety at all points of their journey."

New health and safety measures include requiring all customers to wear face coverings during travel.

Complimentary face masks are provided upon request and hand sanitizer is provided at check-in counters and the boarding area, according to the airline's statement.

Delta added that it would reduce passengers to 60 percent capacity in the main cabin and it would adjust boarding process from back-to-front, to decrease need for passengers to pass each other.

The airline also said that it would sanitize all aircrafts and use circulation systems with HEPA filters to extract more than 99.99 percent of particles, and it would encourage passengers to pack their own food and non-alcoholic beverages to decrease touch points.