US-China relations harming air travel: Air China VP

A senior Air China executive lamented declining air passenger numbers between the US and China and a lack of progress in addressing bilateral civil aviation issues. Between 2010 and 2017, the number of Chinese visitors to the US ballooned from 735,000 to 3.2m, driven by a rapidly expanding Chinese middle class and a move by former US President Barack Obama to streamline applications for foreign tourist visas from affluent Chinese visitors. Total US spending by Chinese visitors grew from just over $5b in 2010 to over $35b in 2017. During those years, “a lot of money was spent. We bought a lot of airplanes and a lot of goodwill was generated,” Air China VP-North America Zhihang Chi said during a Nov. 7 speech at the International Aviation Club of Washington DC. “I don’t think anybody in this audience would dispute that this was a success story for both countries and an example of successful policymaking.” The growth trend reversed in 2018 for the first time in more than a decade, when total passengers from China to the US dropped to 3m. While some of the decline was the result of a slowing Chinese economy and depreciating yuan, Chi said the US-China trade war and souring of bilateral relations have contributed to the drop-off in air travel between the two countries. “On the bilateral front, there has been nothing but standstill. ... The US government issued 42% fewer non-immigrant visas to Chinese travellers last year from 2017 levels,” Chi said. “We also see more and more Chinese visitors being subjected to secondary screening at US airports.”<br/>