American Airlines has removed two China routes from its schedule; both were set to be new routes launching in October. The carrier planned to fly from Seattle to Shanghai and Dallas to Beijing.

Not yet, China

Fort Worth-based carrier American Airlines announced in early January that it would delay the launch of two routes to China. The date for the launch of flights from Seattle Tacoma International Airport to Shanghai Pudong International Airport and from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to Beijing Daxing International Airport was pushed to October 29. Now the two routes have been cut.

White Boeing 787 jetliner with red and blue stripes on the tail and American in blue lettering on the side flying in cloudy sky
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Since China reopened, carriers have experienced a lower-than-expected demand for China flights. Some airlines even hesitated to relaunch flights to China, fearing that flights would not fill up. According to schedule data from Cirium, American has now removed its two new routes from its schedule.

The only route to China remaining in AA’s schedule for 2023 is its flight from Dallas to Shanghai, which will increase to daily services by the end of the year. The route from Dallas to Shangai operates four times weekly this month on the carrier’s Boeing 777-200 aircraft with a capacity for 273 passengers. In April, AA will offer 4,641 seats on 17 flights.

American Airlines said,

“This weekend we adjusted our winter 2023 schedule to China. We will continue to adjust schedules to China this year based on market demand and changes in government regulations.”

Slow return

Because air travel demand between the United States and China has been so slow to return, in January, American carriers requested extensions of slot holds at Chinese airports. During the pandemic, slot relief was implemented so American carriers would not lose their slots at Chinese airports because they were not flying.

Airlines for America sent the Department of Transportation (DOT) a letter in January asking for relief to be extended through October, stating that in December 2022, bookings were down 88% compared to pre-pandemic levels. At the time, demand to Japan was also low.

United Airlines Boeing 787-10
Photo: Lukas Souza | Simple Flying.

Though China dropped all COVID travel restrictions in January, until March, the only carriers connecting China and the US were Chinese. It was not until last month that American carriers resumed their flights to China.

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Delta CEO Ed Bastian stated that the carrier was in no rush to resume China flights,

“We’re not going to get ahead of ourselves in terms of capacity to China. We're going to be very mindful to see how demand warrants and how this opens up. But that's the big question mark, I think, in terms of international demand for 2023 that we don't know yet.”

This month, 52 flights are scheduled to China between American, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines. The American carriers hold the largest market share between the two countries, with 52 of 83 flights. By the end of the year, the number of monthly flights by American carriers is scheduled to reach 385. Foreign carriers included, there are 447 flights scheduled to China in December.