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United Airlines announced today that it is resuming service to Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) and increasing flights to Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG). During the COVID-19 pandemic, service was halted and United has been gradually working to bring it back as restrictions have lifted.
This comes shortly after an announcement (reported on by Reuters) from the U.S. Transportation Department (USDOT) that said it will increase the number of Chinese flights allowed to fly to the US to 18 weekly roundtrips on September 1st. That will increase to 24 weekly starting on October 29th. The Chinese government will agree to the same frequency for American carriers.
United will fly both routes from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) with flights to Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) starting in November and the frequency increase to Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) starting on October 1st.
Patrick Quayle, Senior Vice President of Global Network Planning and Alliances at United, said:
We are grateful for this positive step forward in U.S. – China passenger air services, and we thank the many officials from both countries who partnered to make this reinstatement of air service possible. This announcement is good news for United customers because we believe that a daily flight to Beijing and a daily flight to Shanghai from San Francisco is consistent with the demand we see in the market right now – especially since our ability to serve China nonstop from our mid-continent hubs or the East Coast is severely limited by Russian overflight restrictions.”
We’ll see when service returns to United’s other hubs at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), and Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD).
Anthony’s Take: The world continues to open as the pandemic mostly fades and flights to China were one of the last holdouts. Hopefully, things will continue moving in this direction and more flights will be added from other hubs.
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