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More direct China-US flights on the horizon, but return to 2019 traffic far more distant
- Direct flights between two countries set to increase in October, a fraction of pre-pandemic routings
- Both Chinese and US airlines will expand their schedules, but politics and structural demand shifts may blunt enthusiasm for total resumption
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Shaffia Xiong’s trip to New York almost didn’t happen.
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The 25-year-old Guangzhou-based businesswoman paid a consultant 3,000 yuan (US$410) for help getting a US work visa and buying a sky-high 20,000 yuan return ticket for a series of conferences – which, even at that astronomical price, required a 2.5-hour stopover in Seoul.
“There are a handful of choices [of airlines] and few flights,” Xiong said. “It’s not just the high cost. There is also the long waiting list for visas to travel to the US.”
Frequency of flights will increase in October, when US airlines expand their list of direct routes. But analysts expect no quick recovery to pre-pandemic numbers, pointing to strained China-US relations and uncertainty over long-term demand.
The US Department of Transportation announced in August that the number of Chinese passenger flights permitted to fly to the US would increase by six in October, up to 24 per week.
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