Two US airlines will increase the number of their flights to Beijing and Shanghai this year after China eased its travel policy for foreign tourists.

The airlines are introducing more routes to Asia after China updated its visa-free transit policy in December to allow tourists from 54 countries, including the United States, to stay for up to 10 days.

United Airlines will add to its routes to include a flight between Los Angeles International Airport and Beijing Capital International Airport from May after gaining approval from the US Department of Transportation.

The airline will put on a new flight between Los Angeles and Beijing from May 1, said Annabelle Aston, director of international communications at United Airlines. It will have three flights a week using a Boeing 787-9 aircraft, she said.

The flights must begin between May 1 and May 11 under Department of Transportation rules, as United must operate the route consistently every three weeks for at least 90 days or the slot will be reallocated.

Failure to inaugurate service with a newly allocated frequency by May 11 will result in the unused slots reverting to the department, it said.

The United flight will have 257 seats, 48 in business class, 21 in premium class and 188 in economy, according to the industry publication Aviation Week.

United also applied for extensions of waivers on six routes that are not being used to their fullest: Newark, New Jersey, to Beijing; Newark to Shanghai; Washington to Beijing; Chicago to Beijing; Chicago to Shanghai; and seven flights linking San Francisco to Shanghai.

The US and China have air transport agreements that allow US airlines to fly to China with Department of Transportation approval, as long as the flights are regular. During the pandemic, because of much less frequent travel, the department granted the waivers, which have been extended as operations have only slowly returned to normal.

United now has daily flights from San Francisco to Beijing Capital Airport and from Shanghai Pudong International Airport to both Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Delta has said it will resume nonstop flights between Los Angeles and Shanghai in June, using an Airbus A350.

Delta "remains committed to providing our Los Angeles customers with seamless access to destinations worldwide", said Joe Esposito, senior vice-president of network planning at Delta.

The company said it will also operate 17 weekly flights between the US and China, including existing routes from Detroit, Michigan, and Seattle, Washington State.

Air China has expanded its service to the US and now has five flights a week from New York to Beijing. Altogether it runs four flights a week to Beijing from four US cities and has a few going to Shanghai and Shenzhen from various US cities.

[email protected]