News
American Airlines cancels Chicago-Beijing route
May 11th 2018
American Airlines, will seek a dormancy waiver from the U.S. Department of Transportation for its daily Chicago-Beijing B787 route. Read More » It intends to remove the nonstop service from its schedule in October as a result of the weak current “fare environment”. Hainan Airlines and United Airlines both fly daily between the city pair. Other airlines have launched countless routes between the U.S. and China in the last 18 months with many more services to be inaugurated this year.
The last westbound American flight will be on October 20 and the last eastbound flight will depart on October 22. Passengers with reservations after these dates will be re-accommodated on American flights from Dallas and Los Angeles to Beijing. The oneworld member intends to seek access to operate services at Beijing’s new international airport when it opens next year.
“American is operating more seats from Chicago this summer than in the past 10 years, and we are excited to continue to grow in this important hub,” said Vasu Raja, vice president of network and schedule planning.
“However, the current fare environment severely limits our ability to successfully compete between Chicago and Beijing. We remain committed to China and anticipate that moving to the new Beijing airport will improve the viability of the route through the additional connectivity of our codeshare relationship with China Southern in the long run.”
American took a 2.68% minority stake in China Southern Airlines for US$200 million in March 2017.
