Airlines for America chief Chris Sununu said US carriers oppose more direct China-US flights after Xi Jinping floated an increase. He said Chinese airlines’ ability to overfly Russia on eight flights gives them a cost advantage; each side can fly about 50 round trips weekly.
Airlines for America also opposed Air China’s request last week for more scheduled flights. Before COVID-19 restrictions in early 2020, each side was allowed more than 150 weekly round-trip passenger flights; until August 2023, each could fly only 12 a week.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, the US barred Russian flights from US airspace in March 2022, and Russia then barred US carriers from overflying Russia. A US Transportation Department proposal in October 2025 to bar Chinese airlines from overflying Russia on routes to and from the US faced opposition from other agencies and was shelved ahead of trade talks with China.
