Hopes to defer PHL-Beijing service for a year

US Airways has become the second carrier in recent weeks to seek a 12-month delay in launching a new non-stop route to China. Last fall, US Airways was awarded rights to fly non-stop between its Philadelphia hub and Beijing starting in 2009, but the airline has asked the Transportation department for a one-year delay in launching the route. In April, DOT granted United Airlines’ request to push back the beginning of service on its new San Francisco-Guangzhou non-stop route by a year, from June 2008 until June 2009. Both airlines say the delays are necessary in view of the rising cost of fuel, which is now much higher than when they applied for the routes and calculated their costs. US Airways reportedly told DOT that it now estimates its annual fuel costs on the PHL-Beijing route would run as high as $90 million, compared with an original fuel cost estimate of $50 million. Last year, when the Transportation Department was deciding which airlines should get new China routes, the major U.S. carriers were in a bitter competition for the non-stop rights.