© Reuters. A China Eastern Boeing 777-300ER plane departs from O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. November 30, 2018. REUTERS/Kamil Krzaczynski/File Photo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Transportation Department (USDOT) on Wednesday issued an order approving Chinese airlines to increase their U.S. passenger services to 12 weekly round-trip flights — a figure equivalent to the total number of flights Chinese aviation authorities will allow for U.S. carriers.
The three U.S. carriers currently operating scheduled passengers service in the U.S.-China market — American Airlines (NASDAQ:), Delta Air Lines (NYSE:), and United Airlines — will be approved to operate four weekly round-trip flights between the United States and the China, USDOT said.
The order brings each country’s passenger flights to 12 total round trips effective immediately, but it is still a fraction of the total flights before the imposition of restrictions in early 2020 after the start of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
