A silent coup is taking place in the skies of Europe. Traditional European airlines continue to lose ground on Asian routes at the same time as Chinese players increase their presence with geopolitical changes.
According to aviation analyst firm OAG, which follows the aviation industry, Chinese airlines open 2,900 new flights for the summer season Between mainland China and Europe, excluding Russian routes. New routes are opened not only to metropolises like London and Paris, but also to smaller destinations like Tbilisi and Stockholm. Chinese in Finland China Southern Airlines started direct flights between Helsinki and Beijing in the spring.
The change in market shares has been noticeable. In 2019, the share of Chinese airlines between Europe and mainland China was about two-thirds. This summer it is estimated that it will already rise to 83 percent.
Long circuit route of European airlines
Several factors influence the change. The most central of them is Russia’s decision to close its airspace to Western companies in response to sanctions imposed by Western countries. This has extended the flight times of European airlines from Europe to China by two to four hours and has especially Finnair the strategies of companies based on the Asian market. Instead, Chinese airlines can still fly over Siberia, which gives them a significant cost and schedule advantage.
The situation has also been exacerbated by the conflict in the Middle East, which has diverted intercontinental air traffic from the large hubs of the Persian Gulf like Dubai to other routes.
Chinese airlines therefore have a double aviation win in their hands: they fly more direct routes and are therefore also able to offer cheaper prices. It’s hard to compete against these, no matter how much you talk about the domestic alternative and responsibility.
Chinese airlines have a double win in aviation in their hands.”
“Temu customs” of the aviation industry
In this decade, the European Union has woken up to protect European competitiveness from Chinese players. For example, in order to protect producers of goods, the EU pushed through a new “Temu tariff” at the beginning of the year, which aims to respond to the unfair competitive situation caused by ultra-fast trade and the flood of cheap imports from the East. The customs duty will take effect from the beginning of July.
However, for some reason, the aviation industry has been left out of this discussion, even though it is an important business for Europe, a large employer and a critical infrastructure. It is the right time to demand equal rules for the sky.
The author is the editor of Kauppalehti.