More US Airlines eye China

More US Airlines eye China

In A bid to capitalise on the US-China air service agreement announced in June, three major US air carriers, American Airlines, Delta and Continental, have announced they would seek permission from the US Department of Transportation to operate to China.

The June agreement allows for up to nine airlines each from the US and China to fly between both destinations, up from the existing four carriers, by 2010. This translates to nearly five times the number of weekly flights allowed by each side from 54 to 249.

American now hopes to start daily nonstop services between its home base of Chicago and Shanghai beginning May 1, 2005. Delta has applied for a daily nonstop route from its home airport, Atlanta to Beijing, beginning in 2006. Houston-based Continental has applied for two routes from Newark Liberty International Airport to Beijing and Newark to Shanghai in the spring of 2006. Continental has an existing nonstop service from Houston to Hong Kong.

US and Chinese authorities are not expected to make final decisions on carriers and routes until spring of 2005.