The U.S. Transportation Department (USDOT) has confirmed plans to increase the number of Chinese passenger flights permitted to fly to the U.S. from 12 to 18 weekly roundtrips on Sept. 1 and increase that to 24 per week starting Oct. 29, a Reuters news report said.
"It supports the gradual reopening of U.S.-China air services commensurate with increases in passenger demand over time,” Airlines for America, an industry trade group, was quoted in the Reuters story as saying. “Today’s modified order ensures fair and equal opportunity for U.S. airlines to compete in the marketplace."
The Chinese government has agreed to mirror the decision, increasing the permitted number of flights for American carriers, the news story said. The move is deemed a rare sign of cooperation between the two countries.
The agreement comes shortly after China lifted its pandemic-era restrictions on group tours, including to the U.S., Japan, South Korea and Australia.
The first batch of added flights was approved to begin after Sept. 1 "to meet an anticipated increase in demand around the start of the academic year," Reuters quotes the USDOT as saying.
"Direct flights are essential for increasing mutual visits between Chinese and American peoples," the Chinese embassy in Washington told Reuters. "We hope that the restoration of more flights will do good to the flow of people and trade between the two countries."
The move was mainly driven by consistent engagement between the USDOT and the State Department with Chinese officials following Secretary of State Antony Blinken's June trip to China, the Reuters report said.
"Our overriding goal is an improved environment wherein the carriers of both parties are able to exercise fully their bilateral rights to maintain a competitive balance and fair and equal opportunity among U.S. and Chinese air carriers," USDOT said in its approval order on Friday.
Air China (601111.SS) is seeking approval to add a weekly flight between Beijing and Los Angeles, the airline said in a USDOT filing, Reuters reports. Other airlines set to include flights are China Eastern (600115.SS), Xiamen Airlines and China Southern (600029.SS), United Airlines, American Airlines (AAL.O) and Delta Airlines (DAL.N).
The number of weekly flights between the countries was raised from eight to 12 in May, the news report said. Before COVID-related restrictions were implemented, more than 150 round-trip flights were allowed.
“U.S. carriers have noted that they cannot fly over Russian airspace to China, which makes some routes much longer,” the Reuters report states. Reuters previously reported in June that Chinese airlines were avoiding flying over Russian airspace on newly approved flights to and from the U.S. but still using Russian airspace for other flights.