NowShenzhen | August 14, 2023
THE Biden administration has taken a significant step towards enhancing aviation cooperation between the United States and China by doubling the number of weekly flights between the two countries.
The decision, announced by the U.S. Transportation Department (DOT), will come into effect Sept. 1, with both nations gaining an additional six weekly round-trip flights. As of Oct. 29, this number will increase to 24 per week, effectively doubling the current level of flights.
These round-trip flights will be operated by three U.S. carriers and six Chinese airlines, including Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, and Xiamen Airlines.
Qi Qi, an industry analyst, believes that the increase in flights will help restore the bilateral aviation market to a more normal standard, close to the pre-COVID levels. Chinese airlines have actively sought to recover more flights, but their efforts were obstructed by the U.S. until now.
The gradual resumption of direct flights is seen as a significant facilitator for increased exchanges between the two countries, as highlighted by Lin Zhijie, an independent market watcher. However, even with the flight increase, the volume of flights remains significantly lower than the peak levels observed before the pandemic, when there were 332 direct flights per week between China and the U.S. Lin emphasized that the current phase cannot meet the demands for a large number of direct passenger flights, leading many travelers to opt for exhausting third-country transfers.
During the pandemic, China-U.S. flights remained at a low level. However, following the optimization of COVID prevention measures by China at the end of last year, the domestic civil aviation market gradually recovered and returned to the pre-pandemic level of 2019. Nevertheless, the recovery of international flights has been slower. Data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) shows that as of June of this year, international passenger flights had only recovered to 44% of the pre-epidemic level, with 3,368 flights per week.
Emphasizing the slow pace of recovery, Qi noted that routes to Southeast Asia experienced the fastest recovery, while routes to the U.S. performed the worst. Nevertheless, recent high-level exchanges between the two countries have set an optimistic tone for the future recovery of China-U.S. aviation cooperation. During U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing in June, both sides expressed agreement on encouraging more people-to-people and educational exchanges and had positive discussions regarding increasing passenger flights between the two nations, as reported by Xinhua News Agency.
In addition to enhancing cooperation, the increased number of direct flights is expected to lead to a potential drop in ticket prices. Currently, a one-way economy-class ticket for a China-U.S. direct flight costs around 10,000 yuan (US$1,382), while a roundtrip ticket prior to the pandemic would often be priced under 5,000 yuan, according to online travel agency Trip.com.
This move to increase direct flights between China and the U.S. follows China’s decision to resume group tours to more destinations, including the U.S., Japan, and Australia. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo described this development as a significant win for the U.S. travel and tourism industry and an important step forward in promoting the people-to-people exchange crucial for the bilateral relationship.
(Global Times)
Source: Shenzhen Daily