Chinese airlines are pushing back hard against a potential U.S. ban. This ban would prevent their overflights in Russian airspace for flights from the United States to their destinations in Asia. This latest dispute highlights the growing tensions between the U.S. and China over international airline routes and ticket prices. American carriers are losing and at a competitive disadvantage.
This results in Chinese airlines receiving an unfair economic benefit, the U.S. government claims. This edge derives from the fact that they can safely transit Russian airspace. Retaliation on airspace closure Moscow also closed its airspace to U.S. carriers and most European airlines in early 2022. American airlines have already been forced to reroute their flights, leading to lengthier journeys that consume more fuel and put profitability under duress.
David Yu, an aviation industry expert from New York University Shanghai, noted the significant impact of the ban on U.S. carriers. He stated, “The U.S.-China route historically has been a money-maker for airlines on both sides. From the Chinese carriers’ perspective, if you can go through Russia, your costs go down.”
Even China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Guo Jiakun, railed against the suggested ban. His worry was that it would “penalize” travelers worldwide. The ban will make life more difficult for travelers by making flights longer and more expensive. China Southern Airlines has similar fears. In their letter, they caution that closing off Russian airspace would “displace and damage the travel plans of thousands of travelers currently in Russia.”
This ongoing dispute is extremely important. All three Chinese carriers have reported massive losses during the COVID-19 pandemic. This allows these airlines to fly through Russian airspace, allowing them to significantly reduce their operational costs. Their American counterparts don’t have this luxury at the moment.
European airlines have seen their routes disrupted and unjustly hampered by the Russian airspace closure, with Air France-KLM recently joining the chorus against these actions. These problems are representative of the bigger, undeniable challenges that await international aviation with rising geopolitical tensions, to name a few.
China Eastern Airlines recently expressed similar fears, arguing that the U.S. proposal would “seriously harm the public interest” and “greatly inconvenience travelers.” This shows an increasing recognition from stakeholders about the impact that these policies can have on the global travel landscape.
