WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China and the United States will allow air carriers to double daily flights to eight per week between the world’s two largest economies, the U.S. Department of Transportation said on Tuesday.
PHOTO PHOTO: Travelers wearing face masks following coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak walk past retail stores at Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, China July 22, 2020. REUTERS / Carlos Garcia Rawlins
The department said it would allow four Chinese passenger carriers currently flying to the United States to double flights to eight weekly round trips, as China has agreed to allow US carriers double flights to China.
US carriers voluntarily stop flights to China following coronavirus outbreak. On January 31, President Donald Trump prevented almost all non-US citizens from traveling to the United States from China.
United Airlines (UAL.O) said Tuesday that flights to China will increase to four flights a week from San Francisco to Shanghai with effect from Sept. 4, while the department said Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) was also eligible to go from twice weekly to four times weekly.
Delta will also go after four flights after it said in June that it would operate flights to Shanghai from Seattle and Detroit in early July, all via Seoul. On Tuesday, Delta would add one flight a week from Detroit and Seattle to Shanghai, via Seoul, beginning August 24th.
The U.S. government still hopes China will agree to restore full U.S. flight rights under its bilateral aviation treaty, the Department of Transportation said, adding that if China allows additional flights, it will respond in kind.
The US-China agreement allows both countries to operate more than 100 flights a week between the two nations.
The United States had threatened to stop Chinese passenger flights in June after Beijing did not immediately agree to reschedule flights by U.S. airlines.
In May, the Trump administration said Air China (601111.SS), China Eastern Airlines Corp, China Southern Airlines Co (600029.SS), Hainan Airlines Holding Co (600221.SS) and its subsidiaries had to submit schedules.
Chinese authorities have previously agreed to some changes to requirements for US carriers, including allowing temperature checks to be carried out before boarding flights to China, instead of mid-flight as previously discussed, Reuters reported in June.
Report by David Shepardson; additional reporting by Tracy Rucinski; Edited by Chris Reese and Tom Brown
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