So you want to travel to China but realize you can’t afford the airfare.
The number of air flights between China and North America was dramatically reduced soon after the COVID-19 broke out in early 2020. While flights from North America to Europe and major East Asian cities outside China are gradually going back to the level seen before the pandemic, flights to and from China remain below 30% of the capacity available immediately preceding the pandemic. What to blame? Political tension is probably reason Number One. Other factors include the war in Ukraine and lobbying efforts by North American airlines.
To retaliate against sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of the Ukraine, the Russian government disallows US and Canadian airlines to fly over its territory, thus increasing the operating cost of Canadian and American airlines flying to East Asia.
At the same time, US air carriers have been lobbying hard in Washington to keep the numbers of flights offered by Chinese airlines to the minimum for fear that they’ll lose market share to the Chinese. Chinese airlines technically could fly over Russia while Canadian and US airlines cannot. The US carriers also find their hands ties in expanding capacity due to lack of pilots and cabin crews. To ensure their North American counterparts that they want to compete fairly, the Chinese airlines agree that they would also avoid flying in Russian airspace on their North American routes.
Many pandits speculate that it would take a long time for seat capacity servicing routes between China and North America to return to the pre-pandemic level. While airfares remain elevated, lots of consumers in Canada the United States indeed want to travel to China.
Despite all the doom and gloom on airfare front, good solutions do exist for those planning to visit China in the near future. We encourage you to get in touch with us for a competitive airfare quote if you are ready to sign up for one of our China tours.
