Great Wall Airlines suspends cargo operations….
…after the U.S. imposed sanctions alleging that one of the companies involved in the joint venture supplied Iran with possible weapons componenets:
The carrier, which was launched in June, is a joint venture between Singapore Airlines Ltd. and the Beijing-backed China Great Wall Industry Corp. — one of four Chinese companies the United States in June prohibited U.S. companies from having any dealings with.
Washington says the companies supplied Iran with missile-related and dual use components.
The airline’s statement said it had to suspend its operations because it “relies on technical support from American companies.” It also said it was in discussions with the U.S. government to find a solution.
The carrier serves mainly cargo points on the mainland, but in June it launched a freight service between Shanghai and Amsterdam that ran six times a week. It said it planned to start services to Singapore and India.
It should be noted that the company that the U.S. has issues with is Great Wall Industry Corp. who is one of four Chinese companies that the U.S. has prohibited U.S. businesses from dealing with. I can only imagine that it must have been with some alarm to the U.S. government that this company had formed a cargo airline with Singapore Airlines and was expanding its cargo service to Europe and beyond, which would only make it easier for Great Wall Industry Corp. to allegedly supply Iran, if they wanted to.
I am curious to know how Singapore Airlines feels about this, if anyone out there has more info than we do please provide.
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