image credit: air-china

Industry data suggests that Chinese airlines are gaining market share on international routes due to weak Chinese travel demand, increased costs, and longer flight times to avoid Russian airspace.

After the pandemic, Western airlines like British Airways and Qantas Airways are canceling flights to China, while Chinese airlines are expanding worldwide.

China’s carriers fly more foreign flights to and from China than before COVID-19 stopped most of world aviation and continues to rise.

British Airways canceled one of its twice-daily London-Hong Kong flights last month and announced on Thursday that it would suspend London-Beijing flights for a year, starting in late October for commercial reasons

Since the 2022 Ukraine war, Chinese carriers have flown quicker northern routes to Europe and North America over Russia’s huge airspace.

However, European, American, and other airlines have been prohibited from Russian airspace by Moscow or their governments or opt not to overfly due to safety concerns.

This has increased Chinese airlines’ cost advantage and helped them gain market share in the international market during severe local rivalry, which has pushed ticket costs and profitability down.

“Typically, Chinese carriers have anything up to 30% lower costs than their international rivals,” said OAG senior analyst John Grant. “Chinese airlines are desperate for hard currencies and have embarked on a wide-ranging expansion.”

Flightradar24 reports that British Airways’ four-day Beijing-London trip takes 2-1/2 hours longer than China Southern’s new regular daily service on the same route it debuted last year.

Non-Russian airlines fly slower between destinations.

British Airways relaunched a codeshare with China Southern in May and will fly daily London and Shanghai.

Virgin Atlantic said last month that it would discontinue its London-Shanghai route indefinitely in October due to higher travel times.

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic can employ London Heathrow takeoff and landing slots for more profitable flights.

Qantas discontinued Sydney-Shanghai flights in July due to half-empty planes and poor demand for China tourism, while Royal Brunei Airlines suspended twice-weekly Beijing flights in October due to “market conditions”.

Foreign airlines operated 60% of pre-pandemic flights, a decline.

during Aeromexico-halted flights. Chinese airlines are the sole non-stop carriers between Mexico and China. Aeromexico declined comment.

Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr blamed “overcapacity provided by Chinese carriers” for the group’s Asia problems.

In the Middle East, where China has been establishing ties, Emirates has fully restored capacity to China, Kuwait Airways has expanded frequencies, and Gulf Air began flights to two Chinese cities in May.

China’s foreign traffic has increased after pandemic-related restrictions were abolished in 2023, but it has recovered more slowly than other countries due to a weak economy and a shift toward domestic travel.

Cirium data reveals 23% fewer Chinese flights out of July than in 2019.