Last week, the US Government proposed a ban on Chinese airlines that fly over Russia on their routes to and from America. The Trump administration argued that US carriers, which cannot currently use Russian airspace due to reciprocal sanctions due to the latter’s ongoing military action in Ukraine, are at a disadvantage on these routes. After all, they have to fly further, resulting in higher operating costs.
As such, given the “substantial adverse competitive effects on US air carriers” that the United States Department of Transportation says airlines are facing, the Trump administration has suggested banning those that overfly Russia to America. Given the interesting nature of these developments, it is worth examining which Chinese airlines currently fly to the US, the routes they serve, and the jets used.
Air China Has The Most US Flights
According to present scheduling data made available by Cirium, an aviation analytics company, Air China is the Chinese carrier with the most flights and seats on US routes this month, with 124 and 41,912 respectively. The former figure works out at an average of two round trips per day, but this isn’t a simple case of the carrier serving two routes daily. In fact, there are five routes, all of which have lower frequencies.
All but one start in Beijing (PEK), with the exception being the Boeing 777 service from Shenzhen (SZX) to Los Angeles (LAX). Of the Beijing routes, Washington (IAD) and New York (JFK) use the 747, while Los Angeles (LAX) and San Francisco (SFO) use the 777. According to Aviation Week, Beijing and Shenzhen to Los Angeles are two of the four routes that overfly Russia. On this, Floris de Haan has stated:
“People primarily choose based on price, frequency, convenience, and travel time. Not what an airline pays to the countries they fly over. They often don’t even know what countries they’re flying over.”
Two More Chinese Airlines Fly More Than Daily To The US
China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines are the other two Chinese carriers whose US-bound operations in October 2025 work out at an average of more than one round trip a day. China Eastern accounts for 105 flights (52 outbound and 53 inbound), with all three routes starting in Shanghai.
From the city’s Pudong International Airport (PVG), the carrier flies daily to Los Angeles International Airport using the 
Boeing 777-300ER. This aircraft type is also deployed thrice-weekly to San Francisco and twice a week to New York JFK, with the latter directly overflying Russian airspace.
As for China Southern, the carrier’s US presence this month amounts to 88 flights, or 44 round trips, with its top route linking Guangzhou with LAX 22 times each way using the Boeing 777-300ER. It also uses this model to fly from Guangzhou to JFK (overflying Russia) and San Francisco, as well as from Wuhan to San Francisco. Meanwhile, the 787-9 is also used on both of the two routes to San Francisco.
Smaller Carriers With Less Coverage
On the less frequent and numerous side of things, neither of Xiamen Airlines’ two US routes directly overflies Russia, according to the aforementioned report by Aviation Week. Both use the Boeing 787-9, with three weekly rotations from Xiamen (XMN) to LAX and two from Fuzhou (FOX) to JFK.
As for Hainan Airlines, the carrier’s top US route sees it fly thrice-weekly from Beijing to Boston (BOS) using the Boeing 787-9. However, its return sees it carry on around the world and fly back to Beijing via Brussels, as opposed to a non-stop homeward leg. The airline also uses the 787-9 to fly weekly from Haikou (HAK) to Seattle (SEA) via Chongqing (CKG) and non-stop from Beijing to Seattle twice a week.
Completing the list, we have Sichuan Airlines, which operates just one route to and from the United States of America. Its destination is Los Angeles International, with these Airbus A350-operated flights originating in Chengdu (TFU). This month, there are 13 outbound and nine inbound services scheduled.
