Both United Airlines and Delta Air Lines are increasing service to China after aviation authorities in the U.S. and China agreed to ease flight restrictions between the two countries.
The U.S. Department of Transportation on Tuesday announced that the four Chinese carriers with scheduled flights to the United States would be allowed to operate eight weekly flights, an increase from the previous allowance of four. Likewise, the Civil Aviation Authority of China granted permission for both Delta and United to increase their weekly service to China from two each to four each.
United now plans to increase service between San Francisco and Shanghai to four flights per week on Sept. 4. Delta, meanwhile, will increase service to Shanghai via Seoul-Incheon from both Seattle and Detroit from one weekly flight to two weekly flights on Aug. 24.
The increased allowance marks a continued cooling of flight restrictions between the U.S. and China since June, though it remains a small fraction of the traffic between the two countries pre-Covid-19. In January, there were about 325 combined weekly flights by U.S. and Chinese carriers between the two countries, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.