Air China is expanding its network in Europe this summer with the introduction of a new long-haul service to Milan.
The carrier will launch flights between Chengdu Tianfu International Airport in southwest China and Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP), marking its fourth route to the city and its sixth to Italy. The new service will operate three times per week using Airbus A350-900 aircraft, with the inaugural flight scheduled for July 29.
The addition of the 5,008-mi. (4,352-nm) sector will see Air China double its Milan network compared with pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, the Star Alliance member offered two routes to the city, flying from Beijing Capital (PEK) and Shanghai Pudong.
After pausing operations in February 2020, flights from Beijing resumed in October 2021 followed by the launch of a new route from Wenzhou in November 2022. Shanghai was then reinstated in March 2023.
According to OAG Schedules Analyser data, Air China plans to offer about 12,700 two-way weekly seats to and from Milan once the Chengdu route begins, compared with 8,700 at the same time in 2019. Chengdu-Milan also becomes the airline’s 32nd European nonstop service.
Schedules data for July shows that Germany, the UK and Italy are the carrier’s top three markets in the region, followed by Spain and France. Overall, Air China will provide about 115,000 two-way weekly seats on European routes by late July, marking a year-on-year rise of 62% and up by 17% on 2019 levels.
For MXP, the new route will also become the northern Italian gateway's eighth service to mainland China. Alongside Air China’s three existing services, Hainan Airlines flies to Milan from Chongqing and Shenzhen; Juneyao Airlines offers a route from Zhengzhou; and Italian carrier Neos connects MXP and Nanjing.
Air China’s latest European route comes after it commenced a PEK-Madrid-Havana service in May and resumed PEK-London Gatwick flights. Other network expansion in recent months has seen the opening of PEK-Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, while a 2X-weekly PEK-Dhaka, Bangladesh, service is scheduled to start on July 10.
Meanwhile, the airline has confirmed it has partnered with the New Terminal One (NTO) at New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to “elevate the travel experience for Chinese customers” visiting the U.S. The NTO is an international terminal that is being constructed in partnership with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s $19 billion redevelopment of the airport, scheduled to open in 2026. Air China currently serves the existing Terminal 1 at JFK.
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