Reuters reported why foreign airlines are losing interest in China

The HEAD of Lufthansa said that the company's weakness in Asia is not due to a lack of economic opportunity, but to the strengthening of carriers from CHINA . Shorter routes through RUSSIA gave Chinese companies a cost advantage

Foreign airlines are losing interest in China as local carriers expand their operations, REUTERS writes , citing Cirium data.

The share of international flights to and from China operated by domestic carriers is higher than before covid-19 paralyzed much of global air travel, and continues to grow. Chinese airlines, including China Southern, China Eastern and Air China, operated 90% of the total international flights they did in July 2019 in July. Foreign carriers operated only 60% of flights.

The day before, British Airways announced that it would suspend flights from London to Beijing from October 26 until November 2025. Australia's Qantas suspended flights from Sydney to Shanghai in July, citing half-empty planes and low demand, while Royal Brunei Airlines cited "market conditions" as the reason for suspending flights to Beijing from October.

Lufthansa Chief Executive Carsten Spor said last week that the group's weakness in Asia was not due to a lack of economic opportunity but to "excess capacity provided by Chinese carriers."

On February 26, 2022, the Federal Air Transport Agency banned flights over the country by aircraft from 36 countries, including the EU and CANADA, without special permission. The restriction was introduced in response to the closure of airspace to Russian aircraft.

Reuters writes that Chinese carriers have continued to operate shorter northern routes to Europe and North America through Russian airspace since the conflict began in 2022. This gave a price advantage to Chinese companies and allowed them to take a larger share of the international market, the agency notes.