Iran at war. Middle East airspace blocked. Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad flights canceled or diverted at prohibitive prices. The corridor that for decades has connected Europe with Asia in a more or less affordable and convenient way is in serious trouble.
And in the middle of this chaotic scenario there are those who are taking great advantage of the game: the Chinese airlines. But the thing is not from now, because it is a situation in which They have been accumulating points since 2022with the outbreak of the war between Russia and Ukraine. Now the wind is playing even more in their favor.
Two crises that add up. In 2022, the European Union vetoed the possibility of flying over Russian airspace to European airlines in response to sanctions. Russia, in turn, closed its space to Western companies. This meant that European flights to Asia had to make a detour, leading to more fuel consumption, more flight hours and much higher fares.
Issues. From Air France-KLM and Lufthansa They estimated at two and a half extra hours its flights to Asia compared to Chinese airlines. And now comes the second shock. The conflict between the US, Israel and Iran, with the airspace of the Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Bahrain and Iran closed or restricted since the end of Februaryhas paralyzed the great corridors of the Gulf.
Dubai airport, which with 95 million passengers was the busiest in the world in 2025, has had to suspend its operations. Qatar Airways has gone from more than 500 daily flights to less than 100. More than 20,000 flights canceled in the first days of the conflict. And the routes between Europe and Asia, which were already strained by the closure of Russian airspace, have suffered another devastating blow.
Why the Chinese win. Chinese airlines have been flying through Russian airspace without restrictions for years, as China has not supported sanctions on Moscow. That allows them to operate more direct and cheaper routes between Europe and Asia than any Western rival. According to data from the consulting firm OAG collected by different media, in January 2025, Chinese airlines They already controlled 85% of the flights between China and Europe, a figure that before the pandemic was around 60%.
Quasi-monopoly. In countries like Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece this control is absolute: Iberia has not flown to China since 2020 and does not plan to resume the route in the short term. The situation has only gotten worse for European women in recent months. Already in its day Air France-KLM and Lufthansa they publicly asked the European Union to take measures to compensate for what they described as a situation of “unfair competition”, referring to the conflict with Russia.
With the Gulf also in chaos, the advantage widens, as Chinese airlines can reorient their routes flying over Russia and avoid the Middle East conflict completely, unlike European airlines.
For those who fly to Japan and to other destinations in Southeast Asia. Asia is experiencing a tourism boom among European travelers. Japan received 36.9 million international visitors in 2024a growth of 47% compared to the previous year. In 2025 reached 42.68 millionthe first time in history that the country surpasses the barrier of 40 million tourists in a single year, driven in part by the increase in flights from several Chinese cities to Kansai International Airport.
Mabrian placed Southeast and South Asia as the regions with the highest growth in international travel demand by 2025, with Japan and China accounting for 12.6% of searches when planning trips. And Tokyo, Bangkok, Vietnam and Bali have become some of the most prominent tourist destinations for Europeans. And of course, to get there right now, the path increasingly passes through Beijing or Shanghai.
The leading airlines. There are three big names that dominate the sector: Air China, the flag airline based at Beijing airport and a fleet of more than 930 aircraft; China Eastern, the country’s second operator, based in Shanghai; and China Southern, Asia’s largest airline by fleet size, with more than 600 aircraft and a hub in Canton. The latter is especially well positioned for flights to Southeast Asia. In addition to the big three, Hainan Airlines also stands out, which in the Skytrax ranking snuck in as the only Chinese in the world top 10.
Typically, Chinese airline fares are difficult to match, and that is being the determining factor in many travelers’ plans. Throughout these last months, according to Kayakit was possible to find flights to Tokyo from Madrid or Barcelona for about 350 euros, through Chinese airlines. Now things are more difficult and most of those flights are already sold out for 2026.
They will not always offer you cheap flights. Having said all this, there is one detail that is worth commenting on. And if you open a flight search engine right now, it is possible that what you find is not too similar to those 350 euros we talked about before. The most immediate reason is diplomatic tension between China and Japan earlier this year, which led Air China, China Eastern and China Southern to cancel dozens of routes and reduce frequencies, leaving fewer seats available and higher prices for those that remain.
Added to this is that the instability in the Middle East Demand for the Asian corridor has skyrocketed so much that Chinese airlines no longer need to compete on price to fill their planes. The competitive advantage is still there, but with the quota full they can afford to raise prices.
There is also a more technical factor. And unlike Iberia or Lufthansa, which publish fares up to 360 days in advance, Chinese airlines usually launch their most aggressive promotions with just four or six months of margin. If you’re looking for flights later this year, chances are you’re only looking at base fares and actual deals haven’t appeared yet.
What the price alone does not count. When planning a long-haul trip to Asia, there is something that matters almost as much as the price, and that is don’t let them cancel it to the doors of going. Anyone who has booked a trip to Japan or Thailand with a stopover in Doha or Dubai months in advance and has seen it disappear in the chaos of these weeks understands this. Chinese airlines, by operating on a completely different route and without depending on the Gulf corridor, currently offer an advantage that the rest of their competitors cannot guarantee.
The unknown that gains ground. There is a cultural element in all this that should not be ignored. Chinese airlines are, for most European travelers, largely unknown. The name Emirates or Qatar Airways has an echo of glamor that Air China or China Eastern do not have, at least not yet in the West. But the combination of competitive pricing, growing connectivity and access to more routes can be a very interesting cocktail for travelers looking for long-haul flights to Asia.
Cover image | Caleb Jack and FAITH
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