Chinese airlines' US routes face scrutiny amid proposed airspace ban

Air China currently leads among Chinese airlines in terms of US service. Data from aviation analytics company Cirium shows that in October 2025, Air China has 124 flights and 41,912 seats scheduled on US routes. This equates to about two round trips per day, though the airline serves five different routes with varying frequencies. Most flights originate in Beijing, except for a Boeing 777 service from Shenzhen to Los Angeles. The Beijing routes to Washington and New York use Boeing 747s, while those to Los Angeles and San Francisco use Boeing 777s. According to Aviation Week, both the Beijing and Shenzhen to Los Angeles flights overfly Russia.

Floris de Haan commented on passenger behavior regarding route choices: "People primarily choose based on price, frequency, convenience, and travel time. Not what an airline pays to the countries they fly over. They often don’t even know what countries they’re flying over."

China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines also operate more than one round trip per day on average to the US. China Eastern runs 105 flights in October 2025, all departing from Shanghai. The airline uses the Boeing 777-300ER for daily flights to Los Angeles and for less frequent flights to San Francisco and New York. The New York route directly crosses Russian airspace.

China Southern's operations to the US include 88 flights this month. The primary route connects Guangzhou and Los Angeles with the Boeing 777-300ER. This aircraft also serves flights from Guangzhou to New York (overflying Russia) and San Francisco, and from Wuhan to San Francisco. The Boeing 787-9 is also used for both Guangzhou and Wuhan to San Francisco flights.

Among smaller Chinese carriers, Xiamen Airlines operates two US routes using the Boeing 787-9. According to Aviation Week, neither of these routes—Xiamen to Los Angeles and Fuzhou to New York—crosses Russian airspace.

Hainan Airlines flies from Beijing to Boston three times a week using the Boeing 787-9, but the return journey goes via Brussels rather than nonstop back to Beijing. The airline also operates weekly flights from Haikou to Seattle via Chongqing and two weekly nonstop flights from Beijing to Seattle, all with the 787-9.

Sichuan Airlines offers a single route to the US, connecting Chengdu and Los Angeles with the Airbus A350. For October 2025, 13 outbound and nine inbound flights are scheduled on this route.

The ongoing debate about airspace access and its impact on competition continues as US authorities weigh the proposed ban.