U.S. Department of Transportation Awards New Daily U.S.-China Flight to United Airlines

United Airlines have been awarded the right to operate a daily non-stop flight between Washington Dulles International Airport and Beijing Capital International Airport by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

This action finalizes DOT’s tentative decision to award the seven weekly frequencies to United, whose bid the department determined would serve the most customers and provide the best service to the traveling public.

The Department concluded that selection of UA’s Washington-Beijing proposal would fill the critical service gap between the Washington, D.C. metro area and China, and address the increasing demands in the U.S.-China market by providing the greatest increase in capacity. The Department noted that the Washington, D.C. metro area is the largest city in the proceeding lacking any nonstop service to China.

Also seeking new China authority were Continental Airlines, which applied for service between Newark, NJ and Shanghai; and Northwest Airlines, which applied for Detroit-Shanghai service. American Airlines, which earlier had applied to serve between Dallas/Ft. Worth and Beijing, subsequently withdrew its application.

The Department evaluated U.S. air carrier proposals for new service between the two countries as part of a U.S.-China aviation agreement signed in July 2004 that called for a total of 195 new weekly flights phased in over a six-year period.