American Airlines wants its planned Chicago-Beijing non-stop service put off by one year

American Airlines, the world’s largest airline, has requested the United States Department of Transportation to allow the carrier to delay the launching of its non-stop service between O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, the United States, and Beijing, China, by one year. The airline has now asked permission to delay the service – originally scheduled to begin on April 9, 2009 – until April 4, 2010.

In a statement, American Airlines said the request for delay was prompted by the high prices of aviation turbine fuel.

The company explained: “As a result of the unprecedented level in the price of fuel and general economic conditions, other carriers in the United States -China market have been granted authorisation by the US Department of Transportation to defer startup, suspend service or operate frequencies on a seasonal basis.”

The government of the United States has granted similar requests from US Airways Group Incorporated, Northwest Airlines Corporation, and UAL Corporation’s United Airlines.

US Airways, the low-cost airline owned by US Airways Group, is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, and is the 6th largest airline in the United States. It flies to destinations in North America, Central America, the Caribbean, Hawaii, and Europe.

US Airways had delayed by one year its planned launch of a 13-hour daily flight linking Philadelphia and Beijing, without relinquishing its right to the route. The carrier has said that fuel increases would raise the cost of running the once-daily Beijing flight to over $90 million, from the $50 million when it had applied for the route a few months earlier.

Northwest Airlines, the principal subsidiary of Northwest Airlines Corporation and headquartered in Eagan, Minnesota, near Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in the United States, had obtained permission to suspend for a year 7 weekly, all-cargo flights it was operating between the United States and Guangzhou, China. It has also got one year’s reprieve on its proposed launch of San Francisco-Guangzhou flights.

Access to routes between the United States and China is highly competitive since air service between the two countries is restricted by bilateral agreements.

American Airlines, a founding member of the Oneworld alliance of airlines, is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, the United States, adjacent to the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. American Airlines, American Eagle Airlines and the AmericanConnection are subsidiaries of AMR Corporation Incorporated.

American Airlines is the world’s biggest airline in total passengers-miles transported as well as passenger fleet size; the second largest airline in terms of aircraft operated; and the second-largest airline company in the world (behind Air France-KLM) in terms of total operating revenues. It operates scheduled flights throughout the United States, as well as flights to Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, Japan, China, and India.