Air route authority between the United States and China

There are bilateral treaties that govern aviation rights between the United States and China, which cover both passenger services and cargo services. The United States has liberal aviation agreements with many countries and territories including an "open skies" agreement with Hong Kong since 2002, but there is no "open skies" agreement between the People's Republic of China and the US, which generally refers to an agreement that allows unrestricted flights between countries. The current US-China treaty specifies the number of flights permitted. Due to the highly regulated nature of awards for route authority between the two countries and the strict limits on number of flights, the application process is competitive. US airlines have sought to gain support from local politicians and the general public to influence the US government into awarding routes.

Flight operations In 2006, there were 10 non-stop flights between the two countries, amounting to 2 million passenger trips per year.

Beginning in 2013, there were 28 non-stop routes (not including Hong Kong and Macau) operated by three major U.S. carriers: United, American, and Delta; and four Chinese carriers: Air China, China Eastern, China Southern, and Hainan Airlines.

Beginning in 2018, there were 61 non-stop routes (not including Hong Kong and Macau) operated by four US carriers: United, American, Delta, and Hawaiian; and six Chinese carriers: Air China, China Eastern, China Southern, Hainan, Xiamen, and Sichuan Airlines.

Among the US carriers: (9) United Airlines flies non-stop between Beijing and San Francisco, Chicago, Newark, and Washington as well as non-stop Shanghai service from San Francisco, Chicago, Newark, and Los Angeles as well as nonstop Chengdu service from San Francisco. United ended service to Hangzhou on 16 October 2017. (7) Delta Air Lines flies non-stop flights between Detroit and Seattle and Shanghai and Beijing. Delta also flies nonstop between Los Angeles and Shanghai. Delta relaunched nonstop flights between Atlanta and Shanghai on 20 July 2018. (5) American Airlines flies between Beijing and Dallas/Fort Worth, Shanghai and Dallas/Fort Worth, and Shanghai and Los Angeles (may transfer from LAX to SEA). Hawaiian Airlines ended flights to Beijing on October 12, 2018,

Following a 1987 directive, six Chinese airlines were formed in 1988 when CAAC, the Chinese airline and government regulatory agency for aviation was split and reorganized. Now there are six Chinese carriers (which are different from the original six companies) which operate US-China air routes: (8) Air China flies non-stop Beijing flights to San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Newark, Houston, Honolulu, and Washington. and from Shenzhen to Los Angeles. Air China ended nonstop flights from Shanghai to San Jose on September 25, 2018. (7) China Eastern flies non-stop Shanghai flights to Los Angeles, New York, Honolulu, San Francisco and Chicago. China Eastern also flies non-stop Nanjing, Chengdu, to Los Angeles, and Qingdao to San Francisco. (4+1) China Southern flies non-stop flights between Guangzhou and Los Angeles since August 1997. China Southern also opened a direct flight from Guangzhou to New York in August 2014. China Southern also flies nonstop flights between Wuhan and San Francisco as well as between Guangzhou and San Francisco. China Southern launched nonstop flights between Shenyang and Los Angeles on December 18, 2018. In mid 2019, China Southern launched non-stop flights between Wuhan and New York. (12) Hainan Airlines flies non-stop flights from Beijing to Seattle, Chicago, Boston, San Jose, and Las Vegas. Hainan also flies non-stop flights from Shanghai to Boston and Seattle. Hainan also flies from Changsha to Los Angeles and also flies from Chengdu to Los Angeles and Chongqing to Los Angeles. Hainan launched nonstop flights from Chongqing and New York on October 20, 2017, and from Chengdu and New York on 26 October 2017. (3) XiamenAir flies from Shenzhen to Seattle with continuing service to Xiamen. XiamenAir also flies from Fuzhou to New York. XiamenAir also flies from Xiamen to Los Angeles via Qingdao. (2) Sichuan Airlines flies nonstop flights from Hangzhou, Jinan to Los Angeles.

The number of airlines with non-stop services between cities in China and the United States before 2020: + Number of airlines with non-stop services between cities in China and the United States in 2019 CityZone 1Zone 2Zone 3 Beijing Capital (PEK)Beijing Daxing (PKX) Shanghai Pudong (PVG) Guangzhou Shenzhen Hangzhou Nanjing Jinan Qingdao Fuzhou Xiamen Chengdu Chongqing Changsha Wuhan ShenyangTotal Los Angeles 2 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 1119 San Francisco 2 2 1 1 1 18 New York (JFK) 2 1 1 1 1 1 18New York (EWR)213 Chicago 3 3 6 Seattle 11 2 1 5 Honolulu 1 1 2 Dallas/Fort Worth 1 1 2 Boston 1 1 2 San Jose 1 0 1 Detroit 1 1 2 Washington DC 2 2 Houston 1 1 Las Vegas 1 1 Atlanta 1 1Total20218352211121211163

The airlines flying between China and the United States cooperate in airline alliance and through codesharing. Participating in airline alliances and codesharing is intended to increase passenger traffic on the airline by allowing reciprocal frequent flyer program benefits and increasing the number of flights that an airline offers, even though the flights are operated by another airline. The first marketing alliance between airlines of the two countries was established in 1996 between Northwest Airlines and Air China.

Star Alliance members using the US-China Air Route Authority are United Airlines, and Air China. SkyTeam includes Delta, China Southern and China Eastern. The Oneworld alliance includes American with direct service (and outside the Authority, Cathay Pacific/Dragonair via Hong Kong).

Early history

In 1979, diplomatic relations between the People's Republic of China and the United States were established. Previously, there had been no air service between China and the United States after 1949 although there were flights between the United States and sections of Taiwan Area controlled by the government based in Taipei (Taiwan). Hong Kong, which was previously a British Crown Colony until 1981 and a British dependent territory from 1981 to 1997, is now a part of China but has a separate air agreement with the United States. Macau, formerly governed by Portugal but now governed by China, also has a separate air agreement with the United States. Taiwan is under de facto control by the government based in Taipei, not Beijing. Due to the severing of diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan) by the United States in 1978 in order to establish relations with the People's Republic of China and because the mainland government does not control Taiwan, there is no air service agreement between the United States concerning Taiwan. However, there is an air service agreement between the American Institute in Taiwan and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States.

On Sep 17, 1980, China and the US signed the bilateral air agreement.

First Direct Service In January 1981, CAAC and Pan Am began flying between China and the United States. On Jan 7 1981, CAAC inaugurated the Beijing–Shanghai–San Francisco–New York City CA981/982 service; on Jan 28, Pan Am inaugurated the New York–Tokyo–Beijing (soon rerouted as New York–Tokyo–Shanghai–Beijing starting Jan 31) service; on April 4, CAAC inaugurated the Beijing–Tokyo–San Francisco–New York City (soon rerouted as Beijing–Shanghai–San Francisco) CA983/984 service. In April 1982, CAAC inaugurated the Beijing–Shanghai–San Francisco–Los Angeles CA985/986. All services operate weekly.

Northwest Airlines resumed flying to China in 1984. Its application to operate twice-per-week Seattle–Tokyo–Shanghai flight starting May 2 was approved by CAAC before U.S. President Ronald Reagan's state visit to China. Due to route restrictions and aircraft capacity limitations, many flights between China and the United States had stopovers in Japan. Based on the Japan-US Aviation Agreement, Northwest Airlines and Pan American World Airways operated fifth freedom routes to various Asian countries from Tokyo (initially Haneda Airport, then Narita Airport once opened). Facing financial troubles, Pan Am sold its Pacific route authority, as well as aircraft and equipment, to United Airlines in 1985 leading to United Airlines operating former Pan Am routes over the Pacific in February 1986.。

In 1988, the CAAC was split into multiple airlines. Air China retrieved CAAC's route authority over its US flight. The new China Eastern Airlines inaugurated twice-per-week Beijing–Shanghai–Los Angeles flight starting August 6, 1991.。

Due to the small number of flights, air fares tend to be high between the two countries.

Although the stated goal of both countries is for an open skies agreement, the process of reaching such an agreement has taken several years and has not been completed. Liu Weimin, director of the Aviation Laws Research Centre with the Civil Aviation Management Institute of China, has said "Under the current market situation, local carriers have a hard time competing against global giants such as Continental. That is why US airlines are enthusiastic to fly to China, while Chinese carriers are hesitating to open more flights. For local airlines, more flights may mean more losses if they cannot get enough passengers." There have been reports that the load factors (percentage of seats sold) in business and first class are lower on Chinese carriers than on US carriers."Whitaker said United's China flights were some of the more profitable ones because they were generally full, including the lucrative business and first-class sections. In contrast, Chinese carriers offering international service cater predominantly to Chinese passengers. Those airlines often have plenty of vacancies in business and first class, making some of those routes unprofitable." U.S. airlines vie for new non-stop LAX-China routes

Not all of the route authority of the Chinese airlines is used.

First non-stop Extended service The first scheduled non-stop flight between the two countries took place on May 1, 1996, between Detroit and Beijing, and was operated by Northwest Airlines three times a week. Northwest Airlines began Detroit-Shanghai non-stop flights twice a week starting April 6, 2000, before discontinuing non-stop service 18 months later and discontinuing non-stop Detroit-Beijing service in 2002. (the route was later re-instated on July 1, 2011, under the Delta Air Lines brand) Northwest Airlines then became the only airline authorized to fly China that did not offer any non-stop service to that country until it resumed non-stop flights between Detroit and Shanghai on June 1, 2009 (as part of its new parent, Delta Air Lines).

China Southern Airlines inaugurated the non-stop flight from Guangzhou to Los Angeles on July 20, 1997, using a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft. It was the world's first airline to operate trans-Pacific flights with twin-engine aircraft under the ETOPS.

In April 2000, United Airlines discontinued Shanghai–Tokyo service and launched its first US–China non-stop service from San Francisco to Shanghai. In June 2000, United Airlines discontinued Beijing–Tokyo service and started non-stop Beijing–San Francisco service. This replacement of services was done because of the restrictions on the number of flights permitted under the 1999 air services agreement. Since then, all China routes serviced by United Airlines are non-stop. United's Beijing–Tokyo service was re-instated on October 26 as a temporary replacement for the Dulles–Beijing non-stop service (which was suspended for the winter season). United's Dulles–Beijing service operates year-round.