Major U.S. airline companies are competing for extra flights between China and the United States, an official with American Airlines has said.

Theo Panagiotoulias, managing director of American Airlines in the Pacific, said that four U.S. carriers have submitted applications to authorities for 28 more flights a week to China in 2007 even though a current Sino-U.S. agreement only allows seven more flights.

American Airlines plans to fly from Dallas to Beijing daily, United Airlines from Washington to Beijing, Continental Airlines from New York to Shanghai and Northwest Airlines from Detroit to Shanghai, according to Panagiotoulias.

China and the United States signed an aviation agreement in 2004 to increase the number of passenger and cargo flights allowed for Chinese and U.S. carriers from 54 per week at that time to 249 in stages over the next six years.

United Airlines announced last week that the company has applied for non-stop direct flights between Washington and Beijing, and the direct flight service is scheduled for takeoff in March 2007.

When Beijing host the 2008 Olympic Games, Washington, one of the five aviation hubs of the United States, will become an important departure point for American tourists to China.

Statistics with the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) show over two million people from China and the United States visited each other's countries last year.

Last year the United States became China's fourth largest tourism source nation. China is the first choice of many Americans who plan a trip to Asia, according to Zhu Shanzhong, director of the CNTA representative office in New York.

China received 46.81 million overnight tourists in 2005, up 12 percent on the previous year, including 1.555 million tourists from the United States, up 19 percent.

The United States became the fifth most popular destination for Chinese tourists. In 2005, over 31.02 million Chinese tourists went overseas, an increase of 8 percent, including 530,000 people who traveled to the United States, up 20 percent.

Source: Xinhua