American Airlines to Resume Dallas/Fort Worth-Shanghai Flights

DALLAS — For the first time in three years, China has opened its borders to the rest of the world. This comes at a time when the demand for air travel has already increased as countries continue to open their borders and remove restrictions while the pandemic wanes.

Because of capacity restrictions, it has taken many US carriers time to readjust their schedules to adapt to the increase in demand. The biggest carrier in the world, American Airlines (AA), has announced that it will resume flights between its hub at Dallas/Fort Worth to Shanghai, China.

The flight has been suspended since March 2020 because of the pandemic. Previously, AA operated non-stop flights between Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG). As demand for the route continues to increase, the Dallas-based carrier will operate flights between Shanghai and Dallas with a layover in Seoul—Incheon International Airport (ICN), South Korea.

American plans to resume the flight on March 26, 2023. It will operate twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays, with a Boeing 777-200 aircraft carrying 273 passengers going and returning on the same day. On October 29, the service will increase to daily flights.

The airline's return to Shanghai comes as AA announced that it would further delay the resumption of flights between DFW and Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX) until October.

Boeing 777-200 American Airlines N779AN. Photo: Davide Calabresi/Airways

Back in the Middle Kingdom

Following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in China, US legacy carriers AA, United Airlines (UA), and Delta Air Lines (DL) have resumed flights to mainland China.

However, these flights are not yet back to pre-pandemic levels. DL has announced that it will resume flights between Detroit and Seattle to Beijing and Shanghai in March. Additionally, in March, UA will start flying to mainland China from five destinations in the United States between Shanghai, Chengdu, and Beijing.

Out of the three US legacy carriers, AA has been the most cautious in resuming flights to China. Pre-pandemic AA flew to Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong from Dallas and Los Angeles. The airline does not have any scheduled flights from Los Angeles to China, making Dallas the centerpiece of the carrier's Asia network.

https://airwaysmag.com/american-dallas-auckland-winter/

Featured image: American Airlines N753AN Boeing 777-200(ER). Photo: Brandon Farris/Airways