Air China has made a formal application to the US Department of Transportation (DOT) for exemption authority to launch flights between Beijing and Washington. The carrier has already been designated by the Chinese Government to operate the route, which will be its seventh destination in North America if it receives the green light from the regulator.

In its application, Air China says it plans to initially offer a four times weekly schedule on the route with departures every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from June 10, 2014. It will use a Boeing 777-300ER on the proposed flight. The airline already offers flights from the Chinese capital to Houston, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco in the US and Vancouver in Canada and earlier this month added flights to Honolulu.

Air China has significantly developed its North American operations over the past couple of years. Last year it added Houston to its network and began to introduce its new 777 aircraft onto its schedules into the region. From February 11, 2014 its Beijing – San Francisco route will be the latest to be flown using 777-300ERs. Meanwhile, from March 30, 2014 it will boost the new Houston link from four times weekly to a daily schedule, while the following day its Beijing – New York route will increase from eleven flights per week to a twice daily operation.

"Strong demand from business and leisure travellers to China and destinations in Asia has accelerated the implementation of our growth strategy for Houston and the south central region of the United States," said Dr Zhihang Chi, vice president for North America, Air China. "The additional flights will provide more options and flexibility to international travelers, allowing them to have more convenient connections to cities within China and beyond via our Beijing hub."

The arrival of Air China on Beijing – Washington will bring competition to a route currently served by United Airlines. The US major launched flights in March 2007 and currently offers an up to daily service. It initially utilised a Boeing 747-400 on the link but from the beginning of 2008 began also using a 777, switching permanently to the more efficient twin-engined model from October the same year.

According to MIDT data, an estimated 116,000 bi-directional O&D passengers travelled on this city pair in the year ending November 2013, up 9.2 per cent on the previous 12 month period. Air China already holds a 6.9 per cent share of this traffic via its existing North American schedules.

In the analysis below we look at Air China’s growing capacity in the North American market and how it has helped the carrier boost its share of O&D demand between China and the US and Canada after declines at the start of the decade. The data clearly shows the reinforced commitment to this market in 2013 and the new Honolulu and Washington flights, plus frequency growth on existing routes will see these numbers certainly rise again in 2014.

NOTE: * Data and comparison for first eleven months of 2013 only

We are delighted to report that we will be interviewing Air China’s Zhihang Chi at the forthcoming Routes Americas forum in San Salvador, El Salvador between February 23-25, 2014, where he will be among the high-profile speakers at the event’s Strategy Summit. You can find out more about Routes Americas, Routes Americas 2014, or the Routes Americas Strategy Summit, Routes Americas 2014 Strategy Summit.