American Airlines denies China resumption

May 24th 2019

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President Robert Isom says no immediate plans to resume China service from Chicago. Read More »

American Airlines does not have plans in the near future to resume its flights from Chicago to Beijing and Shanghai, President Robert Isom said at the Wolfe Annual Global Transportation Conference, according to tweets from Flightglobal.

A Chinese press report this week said American was considering resuming the two routes in the near future, although there was no direct quote stating as such.

Isom said the original report was misconstrued. American received US regulatory approval to retain the traffic rights, but does not intend to resume the services in the near future.

There was a regulatory proceeding about American wanting to hold but not utilise Chinese traffic rights.

American’s suspension of Beijing and Shanghai flights from Chicago was the first major pull-down of a US airline in China. United previously withdrew secondary city service. American’s decision was based on a combination of factors, including its Chicago hub. American also reduced frequency of its Chicago-Tokyo Narita service.

American continues to serve Beijing and Shanghai from its Dallas and Los Angeles hubs.