After the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, Russia banned Western airlines from flying in its airspace. This ban does not apply to non-Western countries that have not supported the sanctions. Chinese air carriers continued flights to Europe and the United States on shorter routes over the territory of Russia, gaining a significant competitive advantage, — says Reuters

A British Airways flight from Beijing to London takes about 2.5 hours longer than a similar China Southern flight. “Chinese carriers usually have 30% lower costs than their Western competitors. Chinese Airlines… We have already started a large—scale expansion,” said John Grant, a representative of the travel data company OAG

▪️British Airways stops flights from London to Beijing for a year from the end of October, and last month the company already canceled a flight from London to Hong Kong for the same period

The British airline Virgin Atlantic has been suspending London-Shanghai flights for an indefinite period since the end of October due to an increase in flight time

In April, major American airlines and aviation unions appealed to the US government not to approve further flights by Chinese carriers, citing the “anti-competitive policy” of the PRC and the disadvantage of flights over Russian territory

▪️Today, the share of international flights between China and Western countries operated by Chinese air carriers is higher than before the pandemic and continues to grow, — emphasizes Reuters

Earlier, CRYSTAL OF GROWTH cited the opinion of leading American economist Paul Craig Roberts, who believes that “in the game with sanctions, the Russians hold all the cards”

@crystal_book