[photopress:continental_airlines.jpg,full,alignright]Continental Airlines will bid in 2009 for a new air route between the U.S. and Shanghai.
A Department of Transportation order has been released calling for an increased number of passenger flights between China and the U.S.
The announcement comes a month after both governments reached an agreement in Washington, D.C. The decision amended an older agreement that allowed only one new air route to China from the U.S. each year until 2010.
Under the new agreement, seven new daily routes will be added between the two countries over the next three years.
In 2007, the Department of Transportation will choose a new carrier for one additional route using a bid process similar to the one it undertook in January, when United Airlines won the rights to a nonstop service from Washington, D.C., to Beijing.
Next year, one nonstop daily flight will be added between the U.S. and Guangzhou to be provided by an incumbent carrier. In 2009, the DOT will add another new carrier, as well as distribute four available daily routes between the two countries. At the moment it would be fair to say the China’s international airlines are not ready to deal with this sort of competition. Some sort of joint venture suggests itself.
Source: New York Business
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