The Biden administration moved to double number of weekly flights between the world’s two largest economies, the latest progress of bilateral aviation cooperation amid geopolitical tensions. Experts said the move, in response to the vast demand, will help promote the direct passenger flight market toward recovering to the pre-COVID levels.
The US Transportation Department (DOT) said in a Friday order that each country will gain an additional six weekly round-trip flights as of September 1, up from the current 12, while the figure will increase to 24 per week starting from October 29, meaning a doubling of current levels.
The round-trip flights will be carried out between three US carriers and six Chinese airlines including Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Sichuan Airlines and Xiamen Airlines.
“Our overriding goal is an improved environment wherein the carriers of both parties are able to exercise fully their bilateral rights to maintain a competitive balance and fair and equal opportunity among US and Chinese air carriers,” the DOT said in a statement.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), China’s aviation regulator, has not issued a statement as of press time.
The progress, which can be deemed as a friendly signal released by the US, reflected that despite the world’s top two economies have sour ties in geopolitical sense, bilateral economic and business cooperation still has enormous room, and the US politicians should come alignment with the trend instead of going against it, industry analysts said.
Qi Qi, an industry analyst, told the Global Times on Saturday that the flight increase will help promote bilateral aviation market toward a normal standard close to pre-COVID levels.
“Since the start of the year, Chinese airlines have actively applied to recover more flights to relevant US authority, but the US blocked the flying,” Qi said.
The gradual resumption of direct flights will greatly facilitate exchanges between people of the two countries, Lin Zhijie, an independent market watcher, told the Global Times on Saturday.
Even after the flight increase, the volume is still far less than the peak level seen before the pandemic when there were 332 direct flights per week between China and the US.
“The needs of a large number of direct passenger flights between China and the US cannot be met at current phase, so they have to transfer through a third country, which is exhausting,” Lin said.
China-US flights remained at a low level during the pandemic. After China optimized its COVID prevention measures at the end of last year, its aviation market has gradually recovered.
Domestic civil aviation transport maintained its recovery momentum in the first half of the year, basically returning to the level seen in 2019 before the COVID-19 outbreak, the CAAC said in July.
But for international flights, the recovery pace has been slow.
According to data from the CAAC, as of the end of June this year, international passenger flights reached 3,368 per week, only recovering to 44 percent of the pre-epidemic level.
“Among China’s international flight market, routes to Southeast Asia have experienced the fastest recovery pace, while that to the US has performed the worst,” Qi said.
Some recent active tones set by high-level exchanges between the two countries can also be regarded as offering optimistic expectations for the further recovery of China-US aviation cooperation.
During US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing in June, both sides agreed to encourage more people-to-people and educational exchanges, and had positive discussions on increasing passenger flights between the two countries, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
“The two peoples’ bonds and pragmatic business cooperation between the two countries could consolidate foundation of bilateral ties,” Diao Weimin, a senior professor at Civil Aviation Management Institute of China, told the Global Times on Saturday.
Given this, Diao said that more direct flights can be expected in the near future.
With more direct flights approved, the price of direct flights could also drop.
Currently, a one-way economy-class ticket for a China-US direct is priced around 10,000 yuan ($1,382). Before the pandemic, a roundtrip ticket would often by priced at under 5,000 yuan, according to online travel agency Trip.com.
The newly approved China-US direct flights followed China on Thursday resumed group tours to more destinations including the US, Japan and Australia.
In response, the US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said the move “is a significant win for the US travel and tourism industry and an important step forward to promote the type of people-to-people exchange that is crucial for our bilateral relationship.”
As a culmination of months of hard work between authorities on the two sides, “We look forward to once again welcoming Chinese group travel to the US,” she said.
(Global Times)
