> The end result is that the Chinese airline had to operate a domestic flight from New York to Los Angeles in order to fly to Beijing. This isn't unheard-of. Q

> The end result is that the Chinese airline had to operate a domestic flight from New York to Los Angeles in order to fly to Beijing. This isn't unheard-of. Qantas does (or used to) do this as well, running SYD-LAX-JFK, for efficiency reasons. Cabotage laws prohibit 081/CCA from carrying any passengers on the domestic leg of that route except the ones that are booked on the international leg of the journey as well. So it's not like you can just book a flight with them domestically.