CHINESE passenger airlines will be allowed to boost their weekly round-trip U.S. flights to 50 starting March 31, up from the current 35, the U.S. Transportation Department said Monday, returning the market to nearly one-third of pre-pandemic levels.

The decision “is in the public interest,” the U.S. department said in the statement. “We believe that our present action is a significant step forward in further normalization of the U.S.-China market in anticipation of the summer 2024 traffic season,” it said.

More than 150 weekly round-trip passenger flights were allowed by each side before restrictions were imposed in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but until August 2023, Chinese and U.S. carriers could each fly only 12 a week between the two countries.

The number rose Sept. 1 to 18 weekly round-trips and then to 24 per week starting Oct. 29. The U.S. department approved 35 for Chinese carriers in November.

The U.S. decision also came after a pledge made by the Civil Aviation Administration of China in early January that it would push for a “significant increase” in direct flights between China and the United States.

The Chinese embassy in Washington said it was “glad to see the positive progress made on increasing direct passenger flights between China and the United States.”

The embassy added it is working to “further facilitate cross-border travel and promote people-to-people exchange between the two countries.”

The U.S. Transportation Department said it was engaged in a productive dialogue with China’s aviation regulator towards the “implementation of a roadmap to provide for a gradual, broader reopening of the U.S.-China air services market and a phased and predictable return to the capacity entitlements” specified under a U.S.-China agreement.

On a trip to China last year, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said she wanted to boost travel and tourism between the two countries.

If China returned to 2019 U.S. tourism levels, it would add US$30 billion to the U.S. economy and 50,000 U.S. jobs, Raimondo said in August.

Several Chinese carriers, including Air China Ltd., China Eastern Airlines Corp., China Southern Airlines Co. and Hainan Airlines Holding Co., operate direct flights to and from the United States, competing against the likes of American Airlines Group Inc., United Airlines Holdings Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc.

(SD-Agencies)