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.
US-China flight increase good for tourism, but can it mend business ties?
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.
02:27
China expands visa-free travel to 6 new countries
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.
Dai said flights between China and major global economies such as Australia, Britain, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and New Zealand had rebounded to levels last seen before the pandemic. The total number of international flights during the Lunar New Year period from February 12 to 18 was 70 per cent of the pre-pandemic level, he said.
China leading Asia’s air traffic boom: Airbus
The office said travel to Asia countries remained the hardest hit, with air travel still down nearly 30 per cent compared before the pandemic.
In 2019, Chinese travellers made 2.8 million trips to the US, the fifth-largest source of inbound tourism. Around 1.3 million Chinese tourists were expected to visit the US this year, according to China Trading Desk, a marketing technology company.
Last February, the National Travel and Tourism Office predicted that trips by Chinese to the US would not reach the 2019 level until 2027.
China still accounts for the most foreign students at US universities, according to a study released by the US State Department last year.
Both Beijing and Washington have indicated a will to ease tensions between the two nations by increasing the number of people-to-people exchanges.
China’s top carriers trim losses on domestic travel rebound
In November, during the meeting between Xi and Biden, Xi directly called for promoting such exchanges, mentioning the “flight increase” as one of the priorities.
