Air China opens fifth freedom Houston-Panama route

Air China exercised its fifth freedom rights with an April 5 inaugural flight of its first direct Beijing-Panama City route—via Houston, Texas after receiving approval from the US DoT. The opening of the route comes after the signing of a bilateral civil air traffic rights agreement between Panama and China in November 2017, which opened the door for additional Chinese airlines to launch service to the Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport, increasingly Latin America’s most crucial hub. Air China is the first Chinese carrier to serve Tocumen. Chengdu-based Sichuan Airlines is considering opening a Panama route. Air China will operate 2X-weekly Boeing 777-300ER service on the full Beijing-Houston-Panama City route for at least one year. The airline now flies 4X-weekly service between Beijing and Houston.<br/>