Following the U.S. Department of Transportation's recent directive allowing Chinese airlines to gradually increase their flights between China and the US, American airlines have unveiled plans to expand their services as well.
Delta Air Lines informed Business Times that, beginning October 30, they will increase flights from Shanghai Pudong to Seattle to once daily and from Shanghai Pudong to Detroit to thrice a week. Once these winter expansions are complete, total flights between Shanghai Pudong and Seattle and Detroit will rise to ten a week.
By March of next year, Delta will also reintroduce its Shanghai Pudong to Los Angeles route, a service which had been suspended since February 2020. Jeff Moomaw, Delta's Vice President for the Asia-Pacific region, noted that with the consistent growth in travel demands and the busy travel season already underway, the Delta team is fully prepared to welcome more travelers between the US and China this winter.
United Airlines has shared its expansion plans as well, starting October 1, increasing flights from San Francisco to Shanghai from four to seven times weekly. From November, they will also resume their San Francisco to Beijing route, which will also operate seven times a week.
American Airlines' expansion will come a bit later. Starting in January 2024, they will increase their Dallas to Shanghai flights to a weekly frequency of seven.
Business Times observed that based on these expansion plans, by the end of this year, American airlines will operate a total of 28 flights weekly between the US and China. This includes ten flights from Delta, 14 from United, and four from American Airlines. United plans further expansions in the early part of next year.
In accordance with the recent instructions from the U.S. Department of Transportation, starting September 1, Chinese airlines have been allowed to operate 18 weekly passenger flights between the two countries. This will increase to 24 flights per week starting October 29, a number slightly lower than what US carriers have planned.
Since the onset of the pandemic, the increase and decrease of flights between China and the US have adhered to a reciprocal agreement, ensuring both nations maintain an equal number of flights. If US carriers exceed 24 flights weekly, Chinese carriers are expected to follow suit.
From growth patterns observed, since May 20 of this year, round-trip flights between the two nations have already increased to 24 per week. By the end of this year, as Chinese carriers reach 24 weekly flights and US carriers hit 28, the total will stand at 52 - more than doubling the initial count.
However, regardless of how many flights are added in the future between the US and China, approvals from both the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Civil Aviation Administration of China are mandatory. Airlines have to submit specific flight plans, which can only be put into practice and operation after receiving approval from both regulatory bodies.
Regarding China's international aviation market, flights between China and the US have been the slowest to recover. Before the pandemic, there were more than 150 weekly round-trip flights between the two locations. Due to current limitations in flight availability, ticket prices for flights between China and the US remain above ten thousand yuan.
