China, US flights continue rebound, but weekly round trips still a fraction of pre-pandemic levels
- Chinese civil aviation authority announcement follows US move to boost weekly air trip volume from 35 to 50
- Airlines from both countries allowed a combined 100 flights per week starting in April, following promises by Xi, Biden to boost exchanges
The number of round-trip passenger flights between China and the United States will increase to 100 per week from March 31, China’s civil aviation authority confirmed on Thursday.
The reciprocal policy by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), which allows American airlines to increase their weekly round trips from 35 to 50, came three days after the US Department of Transportation announced the same flight volume growth from China.
In response to the policy, Dai Jun, deputy director of the CAAC’s monitoring centre, said the aviation body would continue to promote the resumption of international flights to “better meet the needs of people travelling to and from China”.
Before the pandemic, airlines from China and the US flew about 300 round trips combined per week, but that number was slashed during the pandemic.
After China cancelled most of its pandemic restrictions last year, the nations’ aviation bodies began to ramp up the number of weekly flights.
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The number of round trips increased from 24 per week in May to 70 last November with each country’s airlines accounting for half the number of the trips.
