Dutch airline company KLM has called on the European Union to take measures against the “unfair” competition from Chinese airlines due to their advantage of flying over Russian airspace.
On Sunday, KLM CEO Marjan Rintel stated in an interview on the Dutch Public Broadcasting Company (Nederlandse Publieke Omroep, NPO) program “WNL Op Zondag” that Europe should at least explore how to prevent this unfair competitive environment through pricing or different treatment.
Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, EU and US airlines have been unable to fly over Russian airspace. Ukrainian airspace has also remained closed since then, giving Chinese competitors who can enter Russian airspace a cost advantage.
Rintel highlighted that avoiding Russian airspace can add between two to four hours of flight time, ultimately leading to increased flight prices.
On September 25, KLM announced its upcoming winter flight schedule, emphasizing that the capacity to Asia has not fully recovered from the pandemic. Additionally, bypassing Russia has resulted in extended flight times, keeping the Asian route network unchanged compared to the winter of 2023/2024.
According to aviation analysis company Cirium, there are four airlines operating flights from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) to China.
Apart from KLM, the other three are Chinese airlines: China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, and Xiamen Airlines. These four airlines collectively schedule 36 flights per week between the Dutch capital and China, with KLM flying to Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) and Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG).
However, KLM’s flight to Shanghai lasts approximately 730 minutes (12.1 hours), while China Eastern Airlines on the same route has a flight time of 670 minutes (11.1 hours).
In this competitive environment, some European airlines are considering or have already reduced flights to China.
British Airways PLC announced the suspension of flights between London and Beijing from this month until November next year. Deutsche Lufthansa AG is also evaluating whether to reduce daily flights from Frankfurt to Beijing due to the inability to compete with Gulf airlines.
Last week, Air-France KLM’s Dutch subsidiary initiated a cost-cutting measure, including postponing investments and assessing the sale of non-core businesses.
Meanwhile, the US Department of Transportation has taken a different approach to ensure American airlines can compete with Chinese airlines on flights to China. New routes for Chinese airlines have been planned to bypass Russian airspace, even though they could technically still use it.