American Airlines, Delta into competition for LAX-Beijing route

China’s capital city Beijing has become the hottest market for leading U.S. carriers now. American Airlines is currently into face off with Delta Air Lines to get Los Angeles-Beijing route into their network. Media reports said that American Airlines has recently applied to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) seeking approval to launch daily nonstop flights to Beijing from Los Angeles. The airline has followed suit after barely two weeks when Delta Air Lines announced that it will be applying for a similar competing bid to the DOT soon.

Both the legacy U.S. carriers have made known their intentions that they would be looking forward to launch daily nonstop flights between Beijing Capital International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport starting from December 16, 2016 whenever the bid is approved. The number of slots is though limited, and the decision to allocate the much sought after Beijing-Los Angeles route lies exclusively with the DOT.

Air China is presently the only airline offering direct flights services between Beijing and Los Angeles. American Airlines is also operating flights to Beijing from Chicago O’Hare and Dallas/Fort Worth. Apart from this, the airline also offers connectivity to Beijing from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport through its Chinese codeshare partner Hainan Airlines. Another leading U.S. carrier Delta Air Lines is also serving Beijing with nonstop flights from Detroit’s Metropolitan Airport and Seattle.

According to the reports, both American Airlines and Delta Air Lines are making extensive efforts to strengthen their presence in the Asia-Pacific region. The latest stiff competition for Beijing-Los Angeles route between the two airlines is therefore being seen as yet another attempt to bolster their presence in this region. It may be noted that both American Airlines and Delta Air Lines are presently operating nonstop flights services between Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport. American Airlines has ever since 2013 more than doubled its number of destinations being served in the Asia-Pacific region.