(Yicai) Nov. 9 -- The cost of flying between China and the United States is set to fall further with the weekly number of round-trip flights that Chinese airlines can operate rising to 35 from today. 

The increase in flights was announced by the US Department of Transportation last month, with five Chinese carriers included. Air China, the flagship carrier, and Hainan Airlines have been allowed to add three round-trip flights per week, while China Eastern Airlines and Sichuan Airlines can add two, and China Southern Airlines can add one more per week. 

Since May, the number of round-trip China-US flights operated by Chinese carriers has increased from eight per week to 35. According to online travel agency Qunar.Com, the price of a direct flight from Shanghai to Los Angeles was CNY15,000 (USD2,060) at the start of the year, but it has now fallen to around CNY7,000 (USD960). 

US airlines have also been allowed to operate more passenger flights to China by the same number, raising the weekly number of direct flights to 70. However, even this number is still far below that of the pre-pandemic era, when the average number of flights per week between China and the US was over 300. 

China’s international passenger flights have seen a steady recovery this year, reaching just over half of that before the pandemic since August.

China will continue to encourage and support domestic and overseas airlines to resume international flights, which will help foreign trade and boost visitor numbers from other countries, Liang Nan, director of the transport department at the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said at a press briefing on Oct. 27. 

Editors: Dou Shicong, Tom Litting