Finders Keepers
Air services between China and Europe are growing rapidly. In July 2016, there will be an average of 167 operations every day flying between China and the 22 European countries with services to China. That’s 15% up on a year ago.
Eighty routes connect 29 airports in Europe with 18 airports in China. That’s 15 more routes than this time last year. While this is impressive, just four markets – Germany, France, Russia and the UK – account for the majority (58%) of these, leaving plenty of room for new air service opportunities.
The map above shows the relative success of European airports in winning air services to China. For airports such as Barcelona (BCN), Dublin (DUB), Lisbon (LIS) and Oslo (OSL), or indeed any of the other twenty airports ranked among Europe’s Top 50[1] without China service today, securing air services to China must be among the top priorities.
Luckily for those airports, Chinese airlines appear to have been making a ‘land grab’ for new routes while China only permits a single national carrier to serve any international route. So, a bit like ‘finders keepers’, the first Chinese airline that gets to operate a route, gets to keep it.
Join OAG at China-Europe Air Transport Symposium, September 2016 to find out what it takes to ensure successful China-Europe air service developments.
[1] Based on Seats in OAG Schedules Analyser, July 2016