HONG KONG, June 21 (Reuters) - U.S. passenger carrier United Airlines said on Monday it planned to file an application for running daily non-stop flights between Shanghai and Chicago under a new pact between China and the United States.
The announcement came after the United States and China reached an agreement last week to significantly expand commercial and cargo traffic between the two countries.
"The new agreement provides United the opportunity to apply for additional non-stop service to China, as well as increases the carrier's code-share rights to China with Air China and Star Alliance members," United Airlines said in a statement.
Its planned service would fly between Shanghai's Pudong International Airport and Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. It gave no further details.
The Sino-U.S. air pact calls for adding 195 more weekly flights for each nation over six years, including 14 new U.S. passenger flights this year. Of the 195 new flights, 111 will be for all-cargo carriers and the remaining 84 flights for passenger traffic.
The pact will permit carriers to fly to any city in the other country and unlimited code-sharing between U.S. and Chinese airlines. Previously U.S. carriers were restricted to flying to five Chinese cities and the Chinese could fly to 12 U.S. cities.
