By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -&nbsp;Chinese&nbsp;airlines&nbsp;are&nbsp;avoiding flying over Russian&nbsp;airspace&nbsp;in&nbsp;newly&nbsp;approved&nbsp;flights&nbsp;to and from the United States, according to flight tracking website FlightAware and industry officials.
Russia has barred U.S.&nbsp;airlines&nbsp;and other foreign carriers from flying over its&nbsp;airspace, in retaliation for Washington banning Russian&nbsp;flights&nbsp;over the U.S. in March 2022 after the country invaded Ukraine.
FlightAware records show&nbsp;Chinese&nbsp;flights&nbsp;recently&nbsp;approved&nbsp;by Washington are not flying over Russia, while previously&nbsp;approved&nbsp;Chinese&nbsp;airline U.S.&nbsp;flights&nbsp;are still&nbsp;using Russian&nbsp;airspace.
On May 3, the U.S. Transportation Department (USDOT) said it would allow&nbsp;Chinese&nbsp;airlines&nbsp;to increase U.S. passenger services to 12 weekly round-trips, equal to the number of&nbsp;flights&nbsp;Beijing has permitted for American carriers. Previously, only eight weekly&nbsp;flights&nbsp;by&nbsp;Chinese&nbsp;carriers were allowed.
USDOT Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs Annie Petsonk declined to answer a question about whether the Biden administration had required that the&nbsp;Chinese&nbsp;carriers&nbsp;avoid&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;airspace&nbsp;as a condition of approving four new&nbsp;flights.
Petsonk said the gradual rise to 12&nbsp;flights&nbsp;for China and the United States "is the kind of measured pace that we are likely to see." The 12 weekly&nbsp;flights&nbsp;are a small fraction of the more than 150 round-trip&nbsp;flights&nbsp;allowed by each side before restrictions were imposed in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"There is certainly great interest on both sides in moving forward," Petsonk added.
On May 18,&nbsp;USDOT&nbsp;approved&nbsp;a new weekly Air China flight from Beijing to New York, a new weekly China Eastern Shanghai Los Angeles flight, a third weekly Xiamen&nbsp;Airlines&nbsp;flight from Xiamen to Los Angeles and second weekly China Southern flight from Guangzhou to Los Angeles. The Xiamen and China Southern&nbsp;flights&nbsp;were both effective May 30.
The&nbsp;Chinese&nbsp;carriers could not immediately be reached.
An emailed statement from Liu Pengyu, spokesperson in the&nbsp;Chinese&nbsp;Embassy in Washington, did not address if&nbsp;Chinese&nbsp;carriers had agreed to&nbsp;avoid&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;airspace&nbsp;for new&nbsp;flights.
"Direct&nbsp;flights&nbsp;are essential for increasing mutual visits between&nbsp;Chinese&nbsp;and American peoples," he said. "We hope that the restoration of more&nbsp;flights&nbsp;will do good to the flow of people and trade between the two countries."
In February, two U.S. senators urged the Biden administration to halt&nbsp;Chinese&nbsp;airlines&nbsp;from flying over Russia on U.S. routes, which gives them an advantage in fuel burn and flying time. At the time,&nbsp;Airlines&nbsp;for America, which represents major U.S. carriers, praised the senators' push, noting longstanding industry concerns about flying over Russia.
&nbsp;
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by David Gregorio)

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Newly approved US flights by Chinese airlines avoid Russian airspace