The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) said it would increase the number of Chinese passenger flights allowed into the United States to 18 round trips weekly on September 1 and to 24 per week starting October 29, in increase from the current one. 12.
He said the Chinese government would agree to the same increase for US carriers, confirming a decision reported earlier by Reuters.
The deal between Beijing and Washington, which has been fought over on many fronts, comes after China on Thursday lifted pandemic-era restrictions on group visits for more countries, including key markets such as the United States, Japan, South Korea and Australia.
The USDOT said the first tranche of flights was approved to begin Sept. 1 “to meet an expected increase in demand near the start of the academic year.”
Sources said US airlines are unlikely to take advantage of the 18 weekly flights immediately.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington referred questions about the details to Chinese authorities, but said “direct flights are essential to increase mutual visits between the Chinese and American people. We hope that restoring more flights will good for the flow of people and trade between the two countries.”
Following Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to China in June, USDOT and the State Department’s continued engagement with Chinese officials “made this important breakthrough possible,” the USDOT added.
“Our overarching goal is an improved environment in which carriers of both parties are able to fully exercise their bilateral rights to maintain a competitive balance and fair and equal opportunity between U.S. and Chinese air carriers,” the USDOT said. in its order of approval on Friday.
Air China said in a USDOT filing on Thursday that it was seeking permission to add a new weekly flight between Beijing and Los Angeles.
China Eastern600115.SS, Xiamen Airlines and China Southern also offer scheduled flights to the United States, while United Airlines, American Airlines and Delta Airlines currently operate passenger flights to China.
United said on Friday it would expand flights between the two countries under the deal, resuming flights to Beijing and reintroducing its daily service to Shanghai.
Airlines for America, an industry trade group, said it “supports the gradual reopening of U.S.-China air services sympathetic to increasing passenger demand over time. Today’s amended order guarantees US airlines fair and equal opportunities to compete in the marketplace.”
The 24 weekly flights are still only a fraction of the more than 150 return flights allowed on each side before restrictions were imposed in early 2020 due to the COVID pandemic.
On May 3, the USDOT said it would allow Chinese airlines to increase US passenger services to 12 weekly round trips, the number of flights Beijing has allowed for US carriers. Previously, only eight weekly flights by Chinese carriers were allowed.
US carriers have noted that they cannot fly over Russian airspace into China, which makes some routes much longer. Reuters reported in June that Chinese airlines were avoiding overflying Russian airspace on newly approved flights to and from the United States, but were still using Russian airspace for other flights.
