China-U.S. Passenger Flights To Expand

Passenger airlines between China and the U.S. are expected to increase to about 100 weekly round-trip. After the U.S. allowed Chinese carriers to boost weekly round-trip passenger flights to 50 from the current 35 starting on March 31, China may follow suit based on the principle of reciprocity. About 150 weekly round-trip passenger flights were allowed by each side before restrictions were imposed in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of flights between the two countries exceeded 520 during Feb 1-26, an increase of nearly three times compared with the same period in 2023, but it only recovered to about 22% of the same period in 2019. (Source: Caixin)