Delta adds two China-US flights to schedule

Atlanta-based Delta Airlines announced on Thursday it will add another two weekly flights between the United States and China starting Aug 24 to meet increasing travel demand. At present, Delta provides two flights between the two countries per week.

With a final destination of Shanghai Pudong International Airport via Seoul for both, Delta will provide weekly flights from Seattle and Detroit. "We are excited to expand our seat capacity to address growing demand from customers, who are showing a strong need for travel," said Wong Hong, president for China and Singapore at Delta. "We will continue our commitment to providing a safe travel experience, as our top priority remains safeguarding the safety, health and peace-of-mind of our passengers and our crew."

In late June, Delta became the first US airline to reconnect the two countries, following a temporary suspension of service in February due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Meanwhile, Chicago-based United Airlines announced on Wednesday it will increase service to China from two to four weekly flights.

Beginning Sept 4, United will operate four weekly flights with Boeing 777-300ER aircraft from San Francisco to Shanghai Pudong via Seoul. "United has served the Chinese mainland for more than three decades and we look forward to continuing to connect customers traveling between the US and Shanghai with two additional flights beginning in September," said Patrick Quayle, United's vice-president of international network and alliances.

In July, United began operating twice-weekly service between San Francisco and Shanghai via Seoul. United was the largest US carrier serving China prior to suspending service in February due to COVID-19.

At present, regulators of the two countries have agreed to allow Chinese and US carriers to each operate eight weekly flights connecting the two countries. American Airlines suspended its US-China passenger service in February, and announced in March it planned to restart flights from Dallas to Beijing and Shanghai, as well as flights from Los Angeles to Beijing and Shanghai on Oct 24.