Chinese airlines have been given the green light to increase weekly roundtrip flights to the U.S. from 35 to 50 beginning March 31, according to Reuters.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) said the approval "is a significant step forward in further normalization of the U.S.-China market in anticipation of the summer 2024 traffic season."
Airlines for America (A4A) expressed support for the "U.S. government's approach to slowly, gradually and reciprocally reopen the market with China."
"It's imperative the U.S. government maintains this approach," the group added. A4A represents American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, which fly a combined 31 weekly flights to China.
The 50 weekly flights are still significantly lower than the more than 150 weekly roundtrip passenger flights that were permitted before the COVID-19 pandemic prompted restrictions in early 2020 that the country is still recovering from.
Up until last August, Chinese and U.S. carriers could each fly only a dozen roundtrip flights a week between the two countries. That number increased to 18 weekly flights on September 1, jumped to 24 on October 29 and climbed to 35 in November.
The Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C. cheered the "positive progress made on increasing direct passenger flights between China and the U.S." and said it's working to "further facilitate cross-border travel and promote people-to-people exchange between the two countries."
Earlier this year, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) revealed that international flights to and from the country are expected to reach 80 percent of pre-COVID levels by the end of 2024.
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