Facing fierce competition, one of Europe’s largest airlines, Lufthansa, will suspend its daily Frankfurt to Beijing route. This move makes Lufthansa the latest European company to cut flights to China.
According to Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA), a spokesperson for Lufthansa based in Frankfurt stated that for economic reasons, the airline will halt operations on the Frankfurt-Beijing route as part of the winter flight plan starting from October 27.
However, Lufthansa will continue to offer daily flights from its second hub in Munich directly to Beijing. This route will utilize Airbus A350, a more fuel-efficient and modern aircraft compared to the older version of Airbus A340 previously used on the Frankfurt route.
The decision by the German flagship carrier does not come as a surprise. The company had signaled in September that it might suspend the Frankfurt-Beijing route. The spokesperson at that time mentioned that due to intensified competition, especially from Chinese airlines, and rising operational costs in Europe touching their bottom line, the company was evaluating the cancellation of the daily Frankfurt-Beijing route.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Western airlines had placed a high emphasis on the Chinese market, aiming to benefit from affluent Chinese travelers. However, with flight numbers significantly dropping during the pandemic, airlines began adjusting flight schedules after China reopened its borders in 2023. Yet, the Chinese economy continued to struggle, and travel demand has been slow to recover to pre-pandemic levels. The situation worsened when European airlines’ flights were banned from entering Russian airspace since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. This forced the planes to take longer routes, increasing costs of flights to China. Meanwhile, Chinese airlines could still pass through Russian airspace, expanding their cost advantage.
On Wednesday, October 16, several European airlines urged the EU to take more actions during an industry press conference in Brussels to ensure fairness in competition. Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr called on the EU to demand that all flights entering Europe avoid Russian airspace to ensure fair competition.
Reuters quoted Spohr saying, “We cannot fly through Russia, but Chinese airlines can. If you want a fair competitive environment, we need to ensure that any airline landing in Europe avoids Russian airspace. Until we do that, Chinese airlines will have a tremendous advantage.”
Additionally, additional environmental costs make it even harder for European airlines to compete with Chinese airlines.
Apart from Lufthansa, several European airlines have reduced flights to China this year. Polish Airline LOT announced on October 10 that it would suspend direct flights between Warsaw and Beijing during the 2024-2025 winter period. Scandinavian Airlines announced on October 9 that it would cease the Copenhagen-Shanghai route from November 10. British Airways stopped the London-Beijing route from late October. Virgin Atlantic Airways, based in the UK, discontinued the London-Shanghai route from October 26, which was its sole China route.
Simultaneously, due to lower Chinese travel demand and geopolitical influences, airlines from the U.S., Australia, and the Asia-Pacific region have also been cutting down on services to China.
On September 20, American Airlines requested the U.S. Transportation Department to allow it to delay resuming two daily flights from the U.S. to China due to lagging travel demand between the U.S. and China. Delta Air Lines and United Airlines also sought permission to continue suspending most of their China flights, citing “continuing market challenges and reduced travel demand” as reasons.