American Airlines is the third American carrier to be granted direct China flights by the U.S. government. (Photo : Getty Images)
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has awarded American Airlines on Monday a new flight between Los Angeles and the Chinese capital of Beijing.
The decision was made between the American Airlines and Delta Airlines, with the latter also in the bidding for the daily round-trip nonstop route between the two cities, the DOT said in a press release.
The DOT said there were not enough frequencies available to satisfy the demand of both American and Delta so only one application was approved.
The new flight is included to the two existing flights between the U.S. west coast and Beijing, which are the Seattle flight by Delta Airlines and United Airline's San Francisco flight.
The decision caps an intense scramble between American and Delta for an additional flight between Los Angeles and Beijing in a bid to strengthen their operations in the American west coast.
Delta said in a DOT filing that it has a 9 percent share of the seats to Beijing--including codeshare flights--compared to just 15 percent for American and 75 percent for United.
American Airlines argued in its filing that Delta already retains a significant advantage over in U.S.-Chinese flight competition, as Delta and its Chinese partners, China Eastern and China Southern, handle nearly twice as much traffic between the U.S. and China as it and the American Airlines China partner, Hainan Airlines, combined.
According to the DOT, allowing a third U.S. airliner would foster competition into the lucrative market bolstered by the large Chinese population residing in the western coastal states of California and Washington.
The U.S.-China market remains tightly regulated, with more airliners seeking to fly to China's major cities that both governments will allow. Currently, the U.S. only allows 154 flights to Beijing and Shanghai.
Those who are opposed to awarding American the flight have until Nov. 22 to file their respective comments before the DOT before it hands down its final decision, according to Reuters.
