The scale is striking: Air China, China Eastern, and China Southern each operate more than 700 aircraft, ranking among the world’s largest airlines. International traffic to China has not yet fully returned to pre-Covid levels. Chinese carriers are close to recovering, but foreign carri- ers are still only at about 50% of pre-Covid volumes. The main issue for European airlines is the lack of Russian overflight rights, forcing longer, more expensive routes that make fares less competitive against Chinese carriers. At the same time, China has made huge strides in digitalization and innovation, surpassing even what we consider advanced in the West. As its economy rebalances after a difficult few years, this will further fuel aviation growth. The sheer scale of demand—over a billion peo- ple eager to travel for business and
leisure—will continue driving the industry forward. Across Asia more broadly, growth is strong, particularly in the low- cost sector. Unlike Europe, where multiple airlines serve many small countries, Asia’s geography creates a different dynamic, with more em- phasis on international flying. While geopolitical issues in Europe and the US are of concern to Asia, regional traffic continues to grow robustly. This is reflected in our revenue fig- ures, and Asia remains an excellent growth region for APG. Jean-Emmanuel Hay: China is mak- ing great strides in technology and investing heavily in its high-speed rail system. Do you think this will pose a threat to airlines in the future? Richard Burgess: High-speed rail in China has been a serious competi- tor to domestic air travel for years.
Between 2010 and 2020, China built the largest high-speed rail system in the world—about 40,000 to 50,000 kilometers of track—creating seam- less connectivity across the country. Trains are excellent value, with busi- ness and first-class comparable to airline lie-flat seats, and frequen- cies between major cities are very high. You can now travel quickly between virtually all major and sec- ondary cities by rail. While this has taken market share from domestic air travel, overall demand in China is growing so rapidly that both sec- tors continue to expand. Rail pricing is usually slightly below air fares, but in some cases, it now exceeds them, reflecting the value passengers place on the service. The process is also extremely effi- cient: tickets are digital, boarding is seamless, and mobile phones handle virtually everything. In many ways, China is ahead of the West in this
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BORN TO BE A BIRD BY CLASS & RELAX
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