June operating figures for Chinese state-owned carriers Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, as well as the country’s largest LCC Spring Airlines, show passenger demand has slowed.
China Eastern Airlines will build up at the north-central city Zhengzhou, creating a freight hub for the surrounding region and helping to fill the expanding cargo capacity of the city’s airport.
China Eastern Airlines will set up a base company at Xiamen, with the aim of supporting the city’s ambition to develop as an international hub for southeastern China.
China’s big three state-owned carriers Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines have recorded a cumulative loss of CNY14 billion ($2 billion) for Q1 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic brought the Chinese aviation industry to a standstill.
Wuhan Tianhe Airport (WUH) reopened its gates to scheduled commercial operations on April 8, marking the end of China’s 76-day lockdown of the city and the resumption of normal service to the airport.
China’s big three state carriers Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines have released their operating numbers for February, revealing the damage of the COVID-19 lockdown on their performance.
China Eastern Airlines will reduce or suspend flights on 11 European and North American routes, apparently in response to further falls in demand amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
China is next week set to welcome back a further 2 million departure seats to its network as the first market to be affected by COVID-19 coronavirus continues to recover.
A China Eastern subsidiary set up to fly Comac aircraft will serve coastal districts from the Yangzi River Delta and retain the business aviation operation on which it has been based, the parent company said.
China Eastern Airlines will begin revamping its frequent flyer program “Eastern Miles” from a mile-based system to a revenue-based one in the second half of 2020.
Air France-KLM and China Eastern's joint venture is to be enlarged to include Virgin Atlantic. As well as the new partnership, it has also been confirmed that regional airline Flybe, which was acquired earlier this year by a consortium that includes Virgin Atlantic, will re-brand as Virgin Connect.
