Abstract: Air traffic rights are a concrete embodiment of national sovereignty in the economic field, and the exchange of air traffic rights with foreign countries is the basis of international air transportation. Guided by policy, China primarily opens and exchanges the first four types of traffic rights and pilots programs for the fifth and seventh traffic rights, with the bilateral mode as the main mode, multilateral mode as the auxiliary, and unilateral mode as the exception. Currently, China has encountered some problems in opening traffic rights to foreign countries and participating in the exchange of traffic rights. In comparison, the “state-regional” traffic rights exchange mechanism between the United States and the European Union has realized efficient cooperation in traffic rights exchange under the nested bilateral and multilateral modes governed by law. To improve the opening exchange of air traffic rights, China should increase the supply of law, moderately expand the opening range of traffic rights under the guidance of law, and prioritize the promotion of multilateral mode on the basis of coordinating various exchange modes. This approach could help achieve a scientific and efficient opening exchange of air traffic rights.