Airlines for America, which represents American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and other major U.S. carriers, opposes Air China’s request to schedule two additional flights from Beijing to New York and Washington. The flights were requested for this week and next week in connection with President Xi Jinping’s planned meeting with President Donald Trump. U.S. airlines say they are effectively barred from operating from the U.S. East Coast to China because they cannot use Russian airspace, while Chinese carriers can use it on some U.S. routes. The group argues the flights should be classified as charters because adding them to the regular schedule could enable Chinese airlines to seek more recurring service. U.S. carriers have long criticized the arrangement, saying shorter routes through Russia reduce flight times, fuel consumption and costs for Chinese airlines. The U.S. Transportation Department proposed in October 2025 banning Chinese airlines from flying over Russia on routes to and from the United States, but the proposal faced opposition from other U.S. agencies and was shelved ahead of trade talks with China. Russia barred U.S. airlines and many other foreign carriers from its airspace in retaliation for Washington’s March 2022 ban on Russian flights over the United States after Russia invaded Ukraine. Chinese airlines were not included in that ban and have used the routing advantage to increase their market share on international routes.