China to see rise of int'l flights for winter-spring season

China will see more overseas flights in the winter and spring aviation season starting from Sunday, including new routes and more frequent flights to meet the market's needs.

A total of 178 domestic and foreign airlines have been approved to arrange 19,327 flights per week, reaching 79 foreign countries.

From a regional perspective, passenger air routes to Latin America and Africa are set to expand further, while traditional air transport markets in regions such as Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea, and Europe are steadily increasing, alongside an increase in flights on North American routes.

In addition, the air cargo market is steadily growing, particularly with substantial increases in cargo flights to countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Germany, Britain, Belgium, the United States, and Canada.

Meanwhile, numerous domestic and international airlines will increase their flight frequencies on passenger routes to meet the market demands.

Among international airlines, United Airlines plans to increase flights from four per week to seven per week on the route from Los Angeles to Shanghai Pudong International Airport , while Air Serbia is expected to launch a new route with two weekly flights from Belgrade to Shanghai's Pudong.

Among domestic airlines, Air China plans to launch flights on various routes, including from Urumqi, capital city of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, to Georgia's Tbilisi; from Beijing to Kazakhstan's Alma-Ata, Uzbekistan's Tashkent, and Egypt's Cairo; and from Chengdu, capital city of southwest China's Sichuan Province, to Alma-Ata and Belgium's Brussels. China Eastern Airlines plans to launch flights from Shanghai to Cairo.

"New airlines and routes have been gradually added since October this year. In December, China Southern Airlines will add routes from Beijing Daxing International Airport to Sydney and Melbourne in Australia. Starting from January 2025, other international airlines will also gradually resume some international routes," said Pan Xiaofang, business manager of the aviation business department at Beijing Daxing International Airport.

The winter and spring aviation season starts on Oct 27, 2024 and ends on March 29, 2025.

China to see rise of int'l flights for winter-spring season

Domestic, int'l airlines to increase more overseas routes for winter-spring aviation season

Russian experts have expressed cautious optimism regarding the latest diplomatic progress toward settling the Ukraine crisis, noting that Russia’s security concerns are finally being heard and urging Europe to adopt a more realistic position.

The developments follow a two-day trilateral meeting involving Russia, the United States, and Ukraine that concluded on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Marking the first direct engagement among the three countries since February, the talks set off a flurry of diplomatic activity. On Thursday, U.S. special envoys met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow before traveling to Dublin, Ireland, for discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The intensified diplomatic efforts have left Russian analysts cautiously hopeful about the prospects for peace.

"We should note that Russia expressed its concerns back in 2021 and 2022, before the special military operation began, indicating that European military buildups did not take Russia’s interests into account. These concerns have now been heard; the United States acknowledges them and is willing to discuss them," said Kirill Koktysh, a professor of political theory at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.

During the meetings, U.S. envoys conveyed that the European Union hopes to join the next round of peace talks. President Putin said that Moscow has always been open to dialogue with the EU, but emphasized that European nations must "make up their minds as to what they want: peace or war in Ukraine."

Echoing the president's sentiments, Andrey Kortunov, academic director of the Russian International Affairs Council, expressed hope that Europe's gradual policy re-evaluation will ultimately lead to a more pragmatic stance.

"Europe has begun to slowly and painfully re-examine its policies. Of course, we all hope that this process of rethinking, and the recognition of the current dynamics and realities of the conflict, will ultimately cause European countries to adopt a more realistic position," he said.

Russian experts urge Europe to take realistic stance as diplomatic efforts intensify