For international students, the significance of a return flight ticket is no less than that of a train ticket for a migrant worker returning home during the Spring Festival travel rush. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the price of a plane ticket to return to China has skyrocketed.
Recently, United Airlines announced the cancellation of 68% of flights to China from its flight schedule.
According to Cirium, a company that provides data and analysis in the aviation and travel industry, United Airlines cancelled a total of 161 flights in its scheduled flight plan for March, including flights from New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington D.C. to Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu.

According to official data statistics, United Airlines has decided to change the operation of 7 routes, with 23 flights removed from each route's schedule. This change is expected to affect the travel of at least 17000 Chinese and American tourists.
Affected routes
The two affected routes take off from Newark Free International Airport (EWR) and fly to Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) and Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG), respectively. The 23 flights involved have been cancelled. These two routes have affected a total of over 6000 passengers. In the flight schedule for March, United Airlines only retained two flights per route, with each flight carrying only 500 passengers.

In addition, two other routes from Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) to Beijing and Shanghai have also been reduced. 23 flights were cancelled on each route, resulting in a slightly lower total number of passengers than 5600.
Other routes involve three other airports in the United States. United Airlines has cancelled 23 flights from San Francisco to Shanghai, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Shanghai, and Dulles International Airport (IAD) to Beijing on each route.
The only unaffected flights include flights from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU), which has only one scheduled flight, as well as daily scheduled flights from SFO to Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK). These two routes transport over 10000 passengers per month and have not been affected by cancellations or reductions.
Clean up "interest free loan" flights
But parents of students don't have to worry too much, because after checking on the official website of United Airlines, Xiaobin found that these cancelled flights are not the currently running China US routes, but the previously entered flight booking system but not approved for execution.
At present, flights between China and the United States are still carried out in accordance with the latest notice issued by both sides in November 2023, with a maximum of 70 round-trip flights per week. It is expected that these flights will be significantly increased this year. But there is still a long way to go before the resumption of over 300 flights per week between China and the United States before the outbreak of the epidemic.

These flights that have not been approved for resumption were executed before the outbreak of the epidemic, but were suspended after the outbreak of the COVID-19. To resume more flights, approval from regulatory agencies in both China and the United States is required.
For future flights, airlines usually enter the booking system in advance and make adjustments based on the timing of the flight rights and market conditions when it is about to expire. These forward flights that are pre booked into the booking system are usually full price tickets. If the airline ultimately cancels these flights, passengers who have already booked the flight can receive a full refund. Therefore, some in the industry also claim that airlines have obtained "interest free loans" through these forward flights.
*But it is not recommended to change the visa, as changing the visa may result in a loss of airfare money.
Latest flight information
The large number of flights cancelled by United Airlines between China and the United States are referred to as "interest free loan" flights in the above situation. At present, the number of flights between China and the United States has not been approved for a new quota, so United Airlines has adjusted its schedule for direct flights between China and the United States until March 29th. However, the 14 weekly flights between China and the United States currently being operated by United Airlines have not changed, with one daily round-trip flight from San Francisco to Shanghai and one daily round-trip flight from San Francisco to Beijing.

In addition to United Airlines, currently qualified American airlines to operate China US routes include Delta Air Lines and American Airlines, while Chinese airlines include Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, and Hainan Airlines. So students and parents don't need to worry too much.
Finally, Xiaobin suggests that students who want to return to their home country should confirm their itinerary and purchase air tickets as soon as possible. Xiaobin is also here, wishing all students a smooth completion of their studies and a safe arrival at home!