Xi Jinping Proposes Increasing Direct China-US Flights

President Xi Jinping proposed increasing the number of direct flights between China and the United States during an event in Washington on Thursday. The proposal aims to facilitate two-way travel and trade, as current capacity is limited to approximately 50 round-trip flights per week, down from 150 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Airlines for America, representing major US carriers such as Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and American Airlines, opposes the increase. The trade group argues the current arrangement is unfair because Chinese carriers are permitted to overfly Russia on eight flights, while US carriers remain banned from Russian airspace following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

To address this competitive imbalance, the US Transportation Department proposed banning Chinese airlines from using Russian airspace in October 2025. However, other US agencies blocked the proposal ahead of trade talks, leaving the restriction in place for US carriers only.