US and China working on bilateral 'open skies' agreement

Beijing: The United States and China are discussing a deal that will liberalize air travel under an 'open skies' agreement between the two countries.

US officials hope to arrive at a framework agreement by May and a formal agreement by the end of this year, US transportation secretary, Mary Peters, said Friday. Peters was in Beijing to discuss the possible agreement with Chinese officials. The framework 'open skies' agreement would be discussed at a May meeting in Washington at a high-level US-China dialogue on trade relations, Peters said.

"We want to at least have the basic framework in place by May," Peters said.

Despite rapidly rising tourist and business travel, the number of airline flights between China and the United States is sharply limited by international agreement. There are an average of only 11 daily non-stop flights between China and the United States, Peters said. By comparison, she said, there are 55 daily flights between the United States and Germany, with which Washington has an "open skies" deal.

US carriers lobbied aggressively for one new route that was awarded this year and went to United Airlines. United used it to launch the first direct service between Beijing and Washington last month.