U.S., China agree to increase flights

The United States and China have agreed to double the current number of flights between the two countries from current levels by the end of October as the countries relax travel restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each country will gain an additional six weekly round-trip flights as of 1 September, up from the current 12, according to a U.S. Transportation Department order. The total will rise to 24 flights for each nation as of 29 October, split between the three largest US carriers and six Chinese airlines. The “overriding goal” of the increased flying is to “maintain competitive balance and fair and equal opportunity among US and Chinese air carriers,” the DOT said. Air service between the two countries, which averaged 340 flights per week before the pandemic, has struggled to recover since the US blocked such flying. Officials argued China had violated an existing air service agreement between the two countries with severe coronavirus requirements, according to media reports. United Airlines said it will increase flying between San Francisco and Shanghai beginning in October and resume routes between the U.S. city and Beijing the following month. In a statement Friday, the carrier attributed the decision to the new agreement between the nations. The progress, which can be deemed as a friendly signal released by the U.S., reflected that despite the world’s top two economies have sour ties in geopolitical sense, bilateral economic and business cooperation still has enormous room. Qi Qi, an industry analyst, told the Global Times on Saturday that the flight increase will help promote bilateral aviation market toward a normal standard close to pre-COVID levels. “Since the start of the year, Chinese airlines have actively applied to recover more flights to relevant US authority, but the US blocked the flying,” Qi said. Domestic civil aviation transport maintained its recovery momentum in the first half of the year, basically returning to the level seen in 2019 before the COVID-19 outbreak, the CAAC said in July. But for international flights, the recovery pace has been slow. According to data from the CAAC, as of the end of June this year, international passenger flights reached 3,368 per week, only recovering to 44 percent of the pre-epidemic level. “The two peoples’ bonds and pragmatic business cooperation between the two countries could consolidate foundation of bilateral ties,” Diao Weimin, a senior professor at Civil Aviation Management Institute of China, told the Global Times on Saturday. For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Matt Driskill at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Head of Sales Kay Rolland at [email protected]