German flag carrier Lufthansa has confirmed that it is actively considering pulling back some flights to China because it is struggling to compete with rivals that are still able to make use of Russian airspace.
Using the so-called ‘great circle distance’, European airlines traditionally flew over Russia to reach China, but ever since February 2022, when President Putin invaded Ukraine, airlines have been forced to fly much further south, adding time and increasing fuel costs.
A spokesperson for Lufthansa now confirms that the carrier might suspend flights to Beijing from its Frankfurt hub, following in the footsteps on British Airways and Virgin Atlantic who have already announced their intention from withdraw completely from Beijing and Shanghai respectively.
“European airlines, unlike those from the Persian Gulf and Bosporus, are in an extremely unequal competitive position with China,” a spokesperson for Lufthansa noted.
“All airlines from these countries benefit from low location costs, low social standards, and high government investment in the aviation sector.”
It’s worth noting that Persian Gulf airlines do not fly through Russian airspace to reach China, although Lufthansa has long battled Middle Eastern carriers such as Emirates and Qatar Airways over what it sees as an unfair advantage.
Lufthansa is, however, facing competition from Chinese airlines who are able to continue using Russian airspace, making their flights to Europe much more attractive due to the shorter flight times and cheaper ticket prices.
No final decision has yet been made, and Lufthansa says that will not happen until October at the earliest. Even if Lufthansa does decide to abandon Beijing from Frankfurt, the airline will still serve the Chinese capital from Munich and other destinations, including Shanghai.
Last month, British Airways announced that it would abandon Beijing from its Heathrow hub because avoiding Russian airspace has made the destination commercially untenable.
A British Airways spokesperson said that the airline would “pause” its non-stop Beijing service on October 26. It is likely to remain ‘paused’ until Russia reopens its airspace to Western carriers, although that could be years away.
British Airways will continue operating flights to Hong Kong and Shanghai despite similar issues with increased flight times and fuel costs.
