By Threes, Twos & Ones

The balance of the North American connections to Greater China are cities that offer three or fewer services. For example, Boston is a relative newcomer to the transpacific fray, with services to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong aboard Hainan and Cathay Pacific. Dallas-Fort Worth follows suit in serving the same cities with American Airlines flights, and Honolulu is rapidly adding lift to Beijing and Shanghai thanks to Hawaii’s position as an up and coming destination for outbound Chinese leisure travel.

Cities offering a pair of services into the region include: the capital of Silicon Valley, San Jose, CA; the capital of the oil patch, Houston; and—oh, yes— the capital of the United States, Washington, DC. Detroit merits a pair of Delta routes to Beijing and Shanghai, and Toronto also rates a pair of directs into Hong Kong aboard Air Canada and Cathay Pacific. And services from Atlanta to Shanghai and Las Vegas to Beijing round out our list.

Of course by the time this goes to press, any of these numbers could have increased, new entrants could have come on the scene and more connections with China could have been made. After all, it’s been 45 years since Nixon went to China, a trip he characterized as“a week that changed the world.”At the conclusion of the visit, Nixon noted that what he and the Chinese leadership said during the trip“is not nearly as important as what we will do in the years ahead to build a bridge across 16,000 miles and 22 years of hostilities.” In the nearly half-century since, air travel is continuing to make that bridge grow stronger. BT