US Department of Transportation Issues Order Banning Chinese Airlines from Flying Over Russia on US Routes

The US Department of Transportation (DoT) has issued an order that would ban Chinese airlines from flying over Russia on US routes. This move is aimed at addressing competitive disparities faced by US airlines due to sanctions.

The order, which was issued on Thursday, targets seven airlines, including Air China, Beijing Capital Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, and Xiamen Airlines. However, it does not include Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways.

The DoT believes that by avoiding longer, costlier routes around Russia, Chinese airlines have an advantage over US carriers, who are barred from using Russian airspace due to sanctions. This results in added time and fuel costs for US airlines, as well as strains on maintenance, aircraft utilization, and crew rest.

The move comes amid escalating economic tensions between China and the Trump administration. In response to the order, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun told Reuters on Friday that it would hinder travel and people-to-people exchanges.

The DoT’s aim is to even the playing field for US airlines. However, flight tracking website Flightaware shows that only two of the potentially affected routes used Russian airspace in October. This includes China Eastern’s flight between New York-JFK and Shanghai, as well as China Southern’s flight between New York-JFK and Guangzhou.

If the order takes effect, these routes could see multiple hours of extra flight time, as has been the case with other airlines forced to skirt Russian borders. For example, Finnair has flown four hours longer between Helsinki and Tokyo since Russia closed its airspace to most European carriers, while British Airways has added up to an extra hour to its flights between London and New Delhi.

Other US-China routes, such as Hainan’s flight between Seattle and Chongqing, Xiamen’s flight between New York and Fuzhou, and Air China’s flight between Washington, DC, and Beijing, all avoid Russia, according to Flightaware data for October.

The US Big 3 airlines (American, Delta, and United) have long expressed frustration with the decision in 2024 to allow Chinese carriers to operate up to 50 weekly roundtrip flights to the US, matching the number allowed for US airlines. They have urged the DoT not to approve the additional flights unless Chinese airlines avoid Russian airspace.

Data from aviation analytics company Cirium shows that United has not resumed flights to China from Chicago, Washington, D. C. , and Newark, New Jersey, since the pandemic, while Delta still isn’t operating its flight from Atlanta to Shanghai.

Despite last year’s increase, flights between the US and China are still recovering from the pandemic. Cirium shows that there are about 10,000 flights scheduled between the two nations in 2025, down 28% from about 35,500 flights in 2019.

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