Speaking with Dutch television, Marjan Rintel, the chief executive officer (CEO) of KLM
, has called for Europe to take measures against the current competitive landscape on flights between the European Union (EU) and China.

Currently, due to reciprocal sanctions between the EU and Russia, the former’s airlines are unable to utilize the latter’s airspace, while Chinese carriers have continued to use Russian airspace to fly to Europe and, on legacy routes, to the United States.

Calling for Europe to take action

Speaking to the Dutch public broadcaster Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (NPO) during the WNL Op Zondag (WNL on Sunday) program on October 6, Rintel said that Europe could look into the possibility of how to prevent an uneven playing field when it comes to European and Chinese airlines operating flights to each other’s markets.

A KLM Boeing 787 Dreamliner

Photo: Nieuwland Photography | Shutterstock

KLM’s chief executive mentioned possible price-related measures, as well as others, that the EU could take to enable European carriers to compete against their Chinese counterparts, with Rintel speaking during WNL Op Zondag a day before KLM’s 105th birthday.

When the Dutch airline announced its upcoming winter schedule on September 25, it specifically pointed out that its capacity to Asia has not fully recovered from the pandemic. Furthermore, rerouting around Russia
has resulted in longer flights, and as a result, its Asian network has remained the same as it was during the winter season in 2023/2024.

The playing field on flights to China

According to the aviation analytics company Cirium, four airlines, including KLM, have scheduled flights from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) to China.

The other three are Chinese carriers: China Eastern Airlines
, China Southern Airlines
, and Xiamen Airlines
. In total, the four airlines have scheduled 36 weekly itineraries between the Dutch capital and China, with KLM flying to Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) and Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG).

China Eastern has scheduled flights to the same airport in Shanghai, while China Southern Airlines currently flies to Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX) and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN). Xiamen Airlines’ itinerary connects Amsterdam with Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport (XMN).

However, while KLM’s flights to Shanghai have a block time of around 730 minutes, China Eastern’s flights on the same route have a block time of 670 minutes, or 12.1 hours and 11.1 hours, respectively.

Air France and KLM Airbus A350 aircraft flying in formation.

Photo: Air France-KLM

When Air France-KLM was looking to buy 50 widebody aircraft from either Airbus or Boeing, with the Franco-Dutch airline group exploring the A350-900, A350-1000, 787-10
, and 777-9
, one of the main considerations during the process was the aircraft’s ability to fly to Asian destinations while avoiding Russian airspace, as The Air Current reported in September 2023.

On September 25, 2023, Air France-KLM chose the A350
family, ordering 50 A350-900 and A350-1000s, with options for 40 more, to replace its aging widebodies. Airbus should deliver the aircraft between 2026 and 2030.

Geopolitical rifts

Ever since Russia and its proxies invaded Ukraine and its territories in Donbas and Crimea in 2014 and the subsequent full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022, the geopolitical rifts between the EU, the US, and the rest of the Western world, and Russia, China
, and their associates, including Iran, have only widened.

For example, on October 4, the EU imposed import tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, with the tariffs ranging from 17.4% to 37.6%, which went into effect following an “anti-subsidy investigation with regard to imports into the [EU] of new battery electric vehicles (‘BEVs’) designed for the transport of persons originating in [China] […].

“On the basis of readily available information, there was sufficient evidence demonstrating that imports of the BEVs originating in [China] benefit from countervailable subsidies provided by the Government of the People’s Republic of China (‘the GOC’). Those subsidies have allowed the subsidized imports to rapidly increase their market share in the [EU] to the detriment of the [EU] industry.”

In the US, the Department of Transportation
(DOT) has taken a different approach to ensure that local airlines can compete against Chinese carriers on flights to China, with new routes being rerouted to avoid Russian airspace, even if Chinese airlines can still technically use Russia’s airspace.

An Air China Boeing 747 taxiing

Photo: Fasttailwind | Shutterstock

Cirium data showed that in October 2019, Air China operated a twice-daily itinerary from Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) to New York John F. Kennedy International Airport
(JFK) with a block time of 800 minutes (13.3 hours).

However, in October 2024, the same flight, with Air China now scheduling five weekly itineraries between Beijing and New York, now has a block time of 925 minutes (15.4 hours).

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *