Eastern Airlines Applies for Wuhan, China Service

DALLAS — Eastern Airlines (2D) has applied to add service between New York (JFK) and Wuhan, China, according to a recent Department of Transportation (DOT) filing. This follows the airline's decision to cancel plans for a route connecting JFK to Shanghai and would be the first regularly scheduled service to Wuhan by a U.S. airline.

Eastern also previously applied for a JFK-Jinan route but never operated it. 2D currently operates 15 aircraft, including 12 Boeing 767s and three 777s. If approved, the service from JFK to Wuhan via Anchorage is scheduled to begin in January 2024.

China Southern Airlines (CZ) operated flights between San Francisco and Wuhan prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and they have also applied to resume this service. Wuhan's main airport is expected to see a 17% increase in flight operations between October 2019 and 2023.

As cited by airlinegeeks.com, the filing states that the airline will offer more “adequate, economic, efficient, and low-priced services” for both domestic and foreign travelers on a route currently served by no U.S. carriers, adding that the new service would also "provide U.S. government employees and contractors service to Wuhan on a U.S. carrier, which currently does not exist.”

After successfully restructuring its bankruptcy in April 2018, Dynamic International Airways acquired the rights to use the Eastern intellectual property from Swift Air as well as the leases of two aircraft from the 2015 Eastern Air Lines startup. As a result, Dynamic International Airways was rebranded as Eastern Airlines.

Featured image: EASTERN AIRLINES N605KW BOEING 767-200(ER). Photo: Brad Tisdel/Airways

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