China and the U.S. have agreed to increase flights between the two countries.
The agreement will double flights from four to eight a week and is expected to further ease a stalemate between the two countries over travel bans implemented during the coronavirus pandemic.
A continued drop in sales has forced large airlines to park planes, cut jobs and seek rescue packages under government bankruptcy-protection programs.
The U.S.-China agreement to double flights between their countries is good news for the struggling sector. Before the pandemic, more than 300 flights were recorded each week between the two nations. But the frequency of flights dwindled as travel demand fell.
The U.S. decision came after China aviation officials Monday allowed Delta Airlines and United Airlines to increase flights from two to four times each week.
U.S. transport authorities said they were set to restrict China's airlines in June after China refused to accept flights from the U.S. President Donald Trump banned almost all non-American citizens from traveling to the U.S. from China on Jan. 31.
The U.S. Department of Transportation said it hoped China would now give its approval to restore the treaty rights of U.S. carriers plying the China route. U.S. aviation officials called the latest flight increase "a step in the right direction."
The four China airlines currently servicing the U.S. route are China Southern, Air China, Xiamen Airways and China Eastern. In a notice filed with the Department of Transportation, China Southern said it was looking to operate an additional flight between Los Angeles and Guangzhou starting Aug. 20.
