US rejects Chinese airlines’ request for additional flights

Bloomberg

US officials rejected additional flights proposed by Chinese airlines but said they would reconsider if the Beijing government adjusts its policies affecting American passenger carriers.
In a statement, the Transportation Department said it disapproved service schedules submitted by four China-based carriers that currently are allowed to make four combined flights to the US each week, plus additional proposals submitted by three other Chinese carriers. Shares of three China-based airlines fell in Hong Kong trading on Monday.
The department said the action was “effectively an administrative action designed to maintain the parity in scheduled passenger services between US and Chinese carriers” that it announced earlier.
American officials have relayed to their counterparts in Beijing that the move is a “procedural matter only and that it should not be viewed as an escalation on our part,” the Transportation Department said.
The department added that it “continues to indicate our willingness to revisit our action should the Chinese aviation authorities adjust their policies to bring about the necessary improved situation for US carriers in which both they and the Chinese carriers could fully exercise their bilateral rights.”
Representatives from the Civil Aviation Administration of China and three of the carriers currently operating scheduled passenger services to the US — Air China Ltd, China Southern Airlines Co and China Eastern Airlines Corp — didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. A representative for Xiamen Airlines Co, which operates a weekly round-trip flight from the southeast Chinese city to Los Angeles, declined to comment.
China Southern’s shares declined 3.8% in Hong Kong on Monday, while China Eastern dropped 3.1% and Air China 2.2%.