New China flight routes

Back in September, the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced new routes for 2009 between the U.S. and China that were

pending final approval

. Well, the four routes are

pending no more

.

Starting in spring 2009,

American

will fly between Chicago and Beijing,

Continental

will serve Shanghai from Newark,

Northwest

will fly between Detroit and Shanghai, and

US Airways

rounds out the bunch with a Philadelphia/Beijing route.

These four new routes make 2009 a huge year for increased service between the two countries. In the meantime,

Delta

will kick off its new Atlanta to Shanghai route at the end of March 2008, and

United

starts service between San Francisco and Guangzhou sometime this spring.