The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced this week that it will allow "the four Chinese airlines currently performing scheduled passenger services to the United States to increase their services to eight weekly round-trip flights." The mentioned carriers include Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines.
In addition to that, United and Delta—two airlines that meet the criteria of the Civil Aviation Authority of China—will also be allowed to amp up the frequency of their flights from twice a week to four times a week.
Specifically speaking, United will start flying from San Francisco to Shanghai via Seoul-Incheon Airport four times a week beginning September 4 while Delta Air Lines will fly to Shanghai-Pudong from Seattle and Detroit starting August 24.
At the beginning of 2020, travelers were treated to over 300 flights per week between the two countries. Needless to say, that number significantly decreased as COVID-19 spread across the world. By mid-March, American Airlines, Delta and United flights to China were completely suspended.
The news, in addition to an even more recent announcement regarding American travelers from certain states being allowed into Costa Rica starting September, is helping us smile into the weekend.
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