The three largest US airlines plan to more than double the number of flights to China in the coming months as they take advantage of a deal between the nations to ease pandemic-era travel restrictions. American Airlines Group Inc. said Wednesday it would add three weekly flights between Dallas and Shanghai early next year. The decision came after rivals Delta and United Airlines disclosed plans for new and expanded US-China routes in the coming months. The carriers are rushing back into the transpacific market after the US Transportation Department on Friday said the limit on flights between the countries would increase in each of the next two months. In total, the three companies — which currently operate just four weekly flights apiece to China — have proposed adding 19 more by the end of January, pending regulatory sign-off. The tentative plans exceed the flying limits announced by US officials, suggesting some of the new flights might not be approved. Large airlines are capitalizing on a surge in international travel, countering soft domestic demand, as more countries relax restrictions put in place in recent years. Travel to Asia has been slower to rebound than the European market, and flights to China have particularly been restricted by the Transportation Department. “These additional frequencies reflect China finally returning to a more normalized international market,” said John Grant, chief data analyst for OAG, which provides global travel information. Flying to visit relatives and friends in the two countries will likely fuel more travel than corporate demand for at least the short term. <br/>
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Cathay Pacific Airways said on Wednesday it has paid a dividend of HK$292.5m ($37.4m) due on preference shares on Aug. 14 and said it expects strong travel demand to remain this month. The airline had, in June, said it would pay the deferred dividend of HK$1.5b on the preference shares held by the Hong Kong SAR government on June 30. The payment decision comes as the global air travel industry recovers from border closures and other disruptions cause by the pandemic. Hong Kong's flagship carrier is close to 60% of pre-pandemic passenger flight capacity with strong performance in its cargo business to continue throughout the second half of this year, it said in the release of its monthly traffic on the stock exchange.<br/>
Fiji Airways is looking at expanding its North America and Asia networks – possibly flying to Mainland China for the first time – as it grows its Airbus A350 fleet. Airline chief Andre Viljoen says the new aircraft puts the carrier in a “stronger position” to grow its network. It highlights “some possibilities” it is exploring include Dallas, Seattle in the USA, as well as Beijing and Shanghai in China. The airline currently has no direct flights to Mainland China, and only flies to Hong Kong. Fiji Airways is also looking at growing its short-haul network in the Pacific and Australia, to cities such as Noumea and Port Moresby. It adds that the new jet could also be deployed to boost capacity on its Australia and New Zealand network, as well as to Hong Kong, Fiji Airways adds. It took delivery of the new A350-900 on 15 August, the third example in its fleet. Its two other A350s entered service in November and December 2019. According to Cirium fleets data, the newest aircraft was built in 2018 and meant for Hong Kong Airlines, but was never put into service. Less than a year later, it was redelivered to sister company Hainan Airlines, but was similarly stored for more than a month in Tarbes in France. Airbus’ asset management unit later bought th aircraft before delivering it to Fiji Airways. Viljoen says the airline was “able to negotiate a lucrative deal to acquire it”, but did not elaborate. <br/>