European airlines are calling for a so-called “level playing field” with their Chinese counterparts, specifically referring to the Russian airspace access that Chinese carriers use and the absence of environmental costs.
According to Reuters, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said all flights to Europe, regardless of the airline, should avoid Russian airspace. ‘If you want a level playing field, we need to ensure any airline landing in Europe avoids Russian airspace. Until that happens there will be enormous advantages to Chinese carriers,” Sophr shared.
Spohr also pointed to the European trading system as another “financial advantage” Chinese carriers have. Spohr’s Lufthansa has recently cancelled its decades-long route from Frankfurt to Beijing, citing costs incurred by longer flying time.
Other European airline executives, including Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith, have voiced similar concerns over the unfair competition, and the European Commission is said to be “examining the matter,” according to De Telegraaf.
Chinese Routes No Longer Profitable
Many European airlines are either reducing their presence or pulling out of China completely due to the unprofitability of operations. Polish carrier LOT, SAS, and Virgin Atlantic will all leave the country entirely next month, while Lufthansa and British Airways have both reduced their presence.
The market is traditionally profitable for carriers but has not fully recovered after the COVID-19 pandemic due to the slowed international traffic recovery out of China. The Russian airspace problems further discouraged European carriers from adding capacity. On the Chinese side, excess capacity has been dumped on the European routes with low fares.
Limited and Varied Response
Despite repeated calls from industry leaders, little has been done on the European level. So far, the only recorded action taken against Chinese carriers was by the Austrian government, who denied landing rights for a proposed Shanghai-Vienna connection by China Eastern on the grounds of ‘unfair competition’ earlier this year.
There has also been conversation around imposing an additional fee or tax for overflying Russia, as well as diplomatic efforts. The CEO of KLM, Marjan Rintel, has called for such a policy from the Dutch government and the European level. The Dutch cabinet, however, sees no possibility for its imposition, citing legal reasons, according to the Luchtvaartnieuws.
It is important to note that a ban or tax on overflying Russia will not only implicate Chinese airlines. Many other Asian airlines still routinely use Russian airspace on their way to Europe, such as Air India, MIAT Mongolia, and Uzbekistan Airways, among others.
