Airlines up China international capacity following border reopening
Airlines have upped capacity to and from China by 9.5 per cent over the past week following the CCP relaxing China’s border policies.
Cathay Pacific has welcomed quarantine-free travel and announced it will double its weekly flights to mainland China, putting it ahead of Xiamen Airlines, Juneyao Airlines and other Chinese airlines, according to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics firm.
The increased capacity comes from a low base, with these routes only being serviced at 11 per cent of pre-pandemic capacity in January. This has caused high airfares ahead of the week-long Lunar New Year holiday beginning later this month.
In the return to Chinese international travel, Chinese airlines are expected to perform well as they have retained most of their widebody aircraft and staff, whereas foreign carriers struggled with capacity constraints and border openings.
Cirium data showed that international capacity to and from China for February has risen by 23 per cent over the last week and by 13 per cent for March. A jump is predicted for April also after the summer airline schedule season that starts 26 March.
Seats to and from China are expected to rise to 4.3 million a month by April, 2.7 million in March, 2 million in February and are expected to hit 1.85 million in January.
The April figure would only be approximately 25 per cent of capacity seen in 2019.
A Qantas spokesperson told Travel Weekly that the airline “will keep customers updated about any plans we have to recommence flights into (mainland) China.”
This followed the airline’s announcement late last month that it will resume Sydney-Hong Kong flights from 30 January 2023 three days a week and increase this to daily from late February. Daily flights from Melbourne are scheduled to resume from 26 March 2023.
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
cathay pacific china Cirium Juneyao Airlines qantas Xiamen AirlinesLatest News
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