Chinese Airlines Surge Ahead in Europe as Russian Airspace Shifts Competition

Chinese airlines are increasing the number of flights between China and Europe by nearly 2,900 during the summer season, according to the Hong Kong-based publication South China Morning Post.

Photo: flickr. com by Jordi Cucurull, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Airplane taking off

In doing so, they are fully exploiting a key competitive advantage over Western carriers, which remain barred from Russian airspace.

According to data from the British aviation analytics firm OAG, the summer schedule taking effect this Sunday will see a net increase of 2,891 flights compared to last year.

The additional capacity comes primarily from China's three largest state-owned airlines: Air China will add 1,120 flights, China Southern Airlines 839, and China Eastern Airlines 654.

Russian Airspace as a Strategic Advantage

Industry experts note that Chinese airlines benefit significantly from their ability to fly over Siberia, reducing both travel time and fuel consumption compared to European competitors.

"This creates an operational advantage that is difficult to overcome. For European airlines, competition on these routes is becoming increasingly challenging," states an OAG report.

Russia closed its airspace to airlines from the European Union and the United States in 2022, after those countries imposed bans on Russian aircraft operations and services.

As a result, many European carriers-including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, KLM, and Air France-were forced to reduce or even cancel flights to China due to the inability to use Russian airspace.

Lufthansa Highlights Growing Imbalance

This imbalance was underscored in an interview given in January by Carsten Spohr, CEO of Lufthansa, to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Spohr noted that Lufthansa must reroute its flights around Russia due to sanctions, while Chinese competitors continue to use the more direct routes through Russian airspace.

According to data from Flightradar24, an Air China flight from Frankfurt to Beijing takes approximately 8.5 to 9 hours, while a comparable Lufthansa flight lasts 9.5 to 10 hours due to detours.

This additional hour to hour-and-a-half significantly reduces the economic efficiency of European carriers.

Spohr also described the market as oversaturated, citing "excess capacity offered by Chinese airlines."

Fuel Costs and Geopolitical Pressures

In the same interview, Carsten Spohr expressed hope that Russian airspace would reopen to all carriers this year, calling it a potential opportunity to restore competitiveness and once again make Asia a "growth engine” for the Lufthansa Group.

However, the interview was conducted before the escalation involving US and Israeli actions against Iran. Since then, European airlines have been forced to further adjust routes, while fuel prices have continued to rise.

These combined factors explain why Chinese airlines can sharply expand their presence in Europe-while their competitors struggle to respond.

A Growing Divide in Aviation

Notably, Spohr's hopes for reopening Russian airspace stand in stark contrast to the official stance of German authorities, who continue to reject cooperation with Moscow.

Under such conditions, unilateral steps appear unlikely. For now, European airline executives can do little more than watch as their Chinese competitors consolidate their advantage in one of the world's most important aviation markets.