American Airlines has applied for
approval to fly from Los Angeles to Beijing, challenging
Delta, which is also vying for that route.
American has
filed the application with the Department of Transportation. If approved, the daily service would begin
Dec. 16.
American's proposal came two weeks after Delta announced the same intended starting day for
its proposed LAX-Beijing service. However, since flights between the U.S. and
China are limited under the countries’ air agreement, the DOT will have the final
say on whether to approve just one of the routes, both, or neither.
American currently flies from LAX
to Shanghai and will begin flying from LAX to Hong Kong in
September. Delta’s lone China service out of LAX is also to Shanghai.
The two carriers are also competing for new daytime
flight approvals at Tokyo Haneda Airport.