The US Treasury announced that talks on working out a timetable to achieve a complete opening of China’s aviation market will resume before the end of the decade, reports Kentucky’s Louisville Courier-Journal.
The accord came during high-level talks led by US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi.
The deal allows the number of daily flights operated from the US to China to be more than doubled by 2012, up from 10 at present to 23 daily roundtrip flights, starting with a new flight this year, reports The Associated Press.
In addition, the US will be allowed to designate three more carriers to operate flights to China. Earlier this year, United Airlines was awarded a new flight route to China, however, American Airlines’ bid last year for a Dallas-Beijing route was rejected. Unperturbed, American says it will bid again. Delta Air Lines has also expressed an interest in entering the China market. Continental Airlines is keen to win the rights to start a New York/Newark to Shanghai service, pointing to the absence of daily service on this route in the market.
“Piece by piece, we are making it easier, cheaper, and more convenient to fly people and ship goods between our two countries,” said US Transportation Secretary Mary Peters.
(Hong Kong Shipping Gazette)
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