U.S. grants new LA-Beijing flight to American Airlines

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) granted American Airlines Monday a new flight between the U.S. city of Los Angeles and the Chinese capital of Beijing.

The decision was made between American Airlines and Delta Airlines, and the latter also bid for the daily round-trip nonstop route, the DOT said in a press release.

The DOT said there were no sufficient frequencies left to satisfy both American and Delta's demand so only one application was approved.

The new flight is added to the two existing flights between the U.S. west coast and Beijing, which are Delta Airline's Seattle flight and United Airline's San Francisco flight.

The DOT hoped to enhance competition by letting a third U.S. carrier join into the lucrative market fueled by the large Chinese population residing in the west coastal states of California and Washington.

Currently four U.S. airlines, namely the American, Delta, Hawaiian and United, provide passenger services between the United States and China. Together they have been allocated nearly all the frequencies available to the United States according to standing bilateral aviation agreements. Endi