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China Flights Increasing, but American Carriers Still Left Out

Lin Yang

   WASHINGTON - China this week began allowing more foreign airlines to
   resume service to the country, but American carriers are still left
   out. United Airlines has not resumed service. Delta Air Lines told VOA
   it is waiting for Beijing's approval.

   Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced a 50%
   cut in service from the current schedule by Chinese carriers, scaling
   back after an earlier total ban of the country's passenger flights.

   Experts say both Washington and Beijing are trying to assert greater
   control and push for more favorable terms of service across the
   Pacific.

   Flightparity

   Currently, the two countries' airline service is not on equal footing.

   The U.S.and China had about325 weekly flights before the pandemic, and
   "it was roughly split 50-50 between Chinese and American carriers,"
   said Kenneth Button, a professor of public policy at George Mason
   University and an expert on transportation policy.

   American carriers suspended service in February as COVID-19 began to
   spread out of China and around the world. By March, Beijing said that
   only foreign carriers that were still serving the country during the
   week of March 12 couldfly to China afterward. That policy effectively
   excluded U.S.airlines from resuming service to China.

   The U.S. DOT saidit isconcerned by China's reluctance to abide by a
   [1]1980 agreement on civil aviation operations between the two
   countries, which says China must allow one U.S. carrier one flight to
   China for every flight to the U.S. by a Chinese carrier.

   "We are back to 1980," Buttonsaid."They started their airline
   negotiations as they set up similar sort of arrangements -- limited
   number of routes with two airlines into each country."

References

   1. https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/122714.pdf

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