An interesting topic came up in the comments section of a recent post about Lufthansa’s India flights all stopping in Dubai, and I figured I’d address it in this post, because it gets at just how logistically complicated flights to China are nowadays.
In this post:
Lufthansa’s Shenyang & Beijing triangle flight
Through the end of October 2021, Lufthansa is operating an unusual triangle flight to China. The German flag carrier is operating a once weekly flight to both Shenyang and Beijing using an Airbus A340-300, as follows:
- Lufthansa flies from Frankfurt to Shenyang on Tuesdays, departing at 9:50PM and landing at 1:55PM the following day
- Lufthansa flies from Shenyang to Beijing on Thursdays, departing at 9:00PM and arriving at 10:50PM
- Lufthansa flies from Beijing to Frankfurt on Saturdays, departing at 12:40AM and arriving at 5:25AM
Lufthansa’s triangle flight to Beijing
This is Lufthansa’s only service to the two cities at the moment (the airline also operates a once weekly roundtrip flight between Frankfurt and Shanghai, and a once weekly roundtrip flight between Frankfurt and Nanjing, which are Lufthansa’s two other routes to mainland China right now).
Passengers can book the Frankfurt to Shenyang flight and the Beijing to Frankfurt flight, but as you’d expect the flight between Shenyang and Beijing isn’t bookable, but rather the airline flies that leg empty.
Why on earth would Lufthansa operate a route like this?
China’s challenging Beijing flight caps
As mentioned above, this China triangle flight represents Lufthansa’s only service to both Beijing and Shenyang at the moment. In other words:
- You can fly Lufthansa from Frankfurt to Shenyang, but not from Shenyang to Frankfurt
- You can fly Lufthansa from Beijing to Frankfurt, but not from Frankfurt to Beijing
Logically you’re probably wondering how this route is economically viable, and why Lufthansa would operate such a complex routing. Wouldn’t it make more sense to operate a single roundtrip flight from Frankfurt to Shenyang, or from Frankfurt to Beijing?
Well, the answer comes down to China’s complicated aviation policies. Not only has China put a low cap on how many weekly flights foreign carriers can operate to China (Lufthansa is capped at two roundtrip weekly flights), but the country has also placed restrictions on where airlines can fly to. Specifically, with few exceptions, airlines aren’t allowed to operate long haul flights to Beijing.
China has a mandatory quarantine on arrival for international travelers, and China wants to “protect” Beijing, and limit the number of international travelers arriving there at the moment.
Lufthansa is simply trying to make the best of the situation:
- The airline can fly passengers from Beijing (just not to Beijing), meaning that a Beijing to Frankfurt flight is totally fine
- But if the airline wants to carry passengers to China, it needs to fly to an airport other than Beijing; Lufthansa decided Shenyang was the best option, and it’s pointed out that BMW Brilliance Automotive is based in Shenyang, so perhaps the cargo makes this more advantageous than other cities in China
Lufthansa isn’t the only major airline to operate a routing like this to China:
- Air France flies from Paris to Tianjin to Beijing to Paris
- KLM flies from Amsterdam to Chengdu to Beijing to Amsterdam
KLM also operates a triangle flight to Beijing
Many airlines have chosen to just cut service to Beijing altogether for the time being, while other airlines (like Ethiopian Airlines) choose to fly roundtrip to Beijing, but simply operate the outbound flight without passengers (I’m guessing most of the revenue from these flights comes from cargo anyway).
Ethiopian simply flies to Beijing without passengers
Bottom line
Currently Lufthansa is operating a once weekly triangle flight from Frankfurt to Shenyang to Beijing to Frankfurt. This is Lufthansa’s only service to the two cities, and due to the way the flight is structured, this is really only for people traveling one-way.
The reason for this strange flight is that most long haul airlines are restricted from flying passengers to Beijing, due to China’s aviation restrictions. As a result, airlines can either cancel their Beijing flights altogether, operate the flight to Beijing empty, or route via another city where they drop off passengers. Lufthansa chose that last option.
I’d be fascinated to know the economics of this. Are airlines actually making money with these triangle flights due to the high fares some passengers are paying, plus the cargo, or are airlines simply maintaining China flights because they don’t want to lose rights to operate these flights, and/or consider these links to be essential?
Any reciprocal arrangements so Chinese airlines are made to do such dance too?
I just hope China open to vaccinated travellers soon. We miss going to China. We miss the crowded streets, the food, and the people. We are both vaccinated and ready to go. But it just doesn't look like China will open this year.
A couple if interesting Air Canada cargo operations these days. Toronto-Frankfurt-Atlanta seems a little out of the ordinary while Vancouver-Shanghai with a Seoul tech stop for crew change is probably a function of the China quarantine requirement for crew layovers in China.
Ben,
China has a very complicated entry requirement. Every citizen or foreigner needs a green code from the local Embassy or Consulate. If you are currently in a contry which has direct flight to China, then you have to take that direct flight. If you take a transit flight, you will not get a green code from the transit country Embassy so you are not allowed to board. You need to provide tickets, resident permit...
Ben,
China has a very complicated entry requirement. Every citizen or foreigner needs a green code from the local Embassy or Consulate. If you are currently in a contry which has direct flight to China, then you have to take that direct flight. If you take a transit flight, you will not get a green code from the transit country Embassy so you are not allowed to board. You need to provide tickets, resident permit (like visa, green code) as well as PCR and IgM test result to get the Green code.
If your country does not have a direct flight to China (such as Brazil, India, Ukraine, ect), then you have to get a green code both from your current country Embassy and the transit country Embassy. In order to get a transit green code, you need a green code from your departure country Embassy as well as a PCR and IgM test result. Now only seven airports can provide both PCR and IgM test within a few hours (CDG FRA AMS ZRH CPH HEL and VIE), therefore, most of the Chinese citizen has to transit through these airports to go home. That's why the tickets from these airports to China are always extremently expensive. In fact, no matter which city LH are flying to (SHE NKG or PVG), the flights are always full. For the return leg, PEK obviously has more passengers than SHE and that's why LH is operating this triangle flight.
Ben, you may have no idea how much the airfare is to China now. Since last April, the cheapest price is around $4,000-5,000 one way in economy.
@BKK Wonder what you would say about SpaceX Falcon 9 second stage reentry crashing into Portland. FYI getting second stage booster controlled entry is a technology that not even SpaceX figured out.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/03/a-falcon-9-rockets-second-stage-just-burnt-up-over-seattle/
I am from China but in Belgrade at the moment. The comments above have covered a lot of ground, so I am only adding another observation.
I was in Dubai for ten days in late January, and many people were coming from Africa for their connecting flight to China, because no airline offers a direct link to China from Africa other than Ethiopian, and that's a weekly flight to Guangzhou, which is sometimes suspended...
I am from China but in Belgrade at the moment. The comments above have covered a lot of ground, so I am only adding another observation.
I was in Dubai for ten days in late January, and many people were coming from Africa for their connecting flight to China, because no airline offers a direct link to China from Africa other than Ethiopian, and that's a weekly flight to Guangzhou, which is sometimes suspended due to the number of positive covid cases detected from passengers on that flight. So that means DXB and Emirates are their next best chance of returning to China, given how many points Emirates cover across Africa. The Chinese government doesn't allow connecting itinerary these days, unless there is no direct flight from where you are to China. The reasoning for that is a direct flight would reduce the chance of someone being exposed to covid, but connecting itinerary would increase the chance.
If you do a google flight search, the direct flight between Paris and Shanghai is booked out until 31 October, 2021, that's almost six months out. On the return leg, PVG to CDG, there is huge demand from Chinese workers being contracted to work in Africa and South America, so CDG is the obvious transit hub for these itineraries, besides AMS, and I imagine the LH flights from China to Germany, no matter how limited at these weekly frequencies, would still benefit from carrying the numbers to the LH network in EZE, GRU, BOG or LOS. The fact that LH, AF and KL are allowed to operate to more than one point of entry in China helps. Look at EK, QR, ET, TK, they have only one point of entry, and that's Guangzhou, a traditionally less premium/lucrative destination for international carriers, compared to PVG or PEK.
Did you check ticket price for one way flight from Frankfurt to Shenyang? I looked the price is over $3000 in July. Paris to Tianjin flight is over $5200. I don't know why you still worry if it's profitable or not. Not every country has direct flight to China now, so people in other european countries, in Africa may have to fly from there. As far as I know you are lucky to get a...
Did you check ticket price for one way flight from Frankfurt to Shenyang? I looked the price is over $3000 in July. Paris to Tianjin flight is over $5200. I don't know why you still worry if it's profitable or not. Not every country has direct flight to China now, so people in other european countries, in Africa may have to fly from there. As far as I know you are lucky to get a ticket no matter how much it costs. Yes, double tests within 48 hours before departure is strict, tickets are very expensive, 14 days quarantine is boring, but many people are still trying hard to go back. However, the hotel condition is not as bad as some people said above, there are lots of quarantine videos on youtube that you can see. Price is also very reasonable. I don't know why anyone should complaint about diverting flights to different cities, why force one city to handle all the burdens while others do nothing?
This is an article explaining the rationale of a routing we're not used to seeing. It's certainly interesting, well researched, and well written. It's just the sign of the times that too many commentors use a simple logistical explanation to sneak in the political propaganda they're fed from their news source of choice.
Yes, most comments complimentary of anything China are real people with real opinions. However, it's not unreasonable to wonder because the...
This is an article explaining the rationale of a routing we're not used to seeing. It's certainly interesting, well researched, and well written. It's just the sign of the times that too many commentors use a simple logistical explanation to sneak in the political propaganda they're fed from their news source of choice.
Yes, most comments complimentary of anything China are real people with real opinions. However, it's not unreasonable to wonder because the CCP doesn't even deny their spread of propaganda in comment sections.
Another comment went straight to "Biden's vaccine rollout." (Ironically, the rollouts are at state level, dictated by how fast Pfizer and Moderna can make and ship product. This is simply following the framework from the last administration.) Love Biden, dislike Biden, or indifferent, it all makes little difference when discovering German/Chinese logistics. Lol, I even saw a little "Liz and Mitt" thrown in there.
Anyway, if you can't beat them, join them. So, how 'bout those Mets?
@Jerry totally agree, the vast majority of communism praisers are from the communicational guerilla (we have plenty of those in the Venezuelan regime too), but remember there's also the useful idi..ts, commie wannabes, that genuinely praise the regime. They would be even happy to receive the crashing malfunctioning rocket, that would be like receiving a dose of communism from the sky.
@Ben/Lucky. The focus of this post is regarding the odd routing to Beijing. However, foreign carriers are allowed to operate return trips to other cities such as Shanghai, Nanjing, or Guangzhou. China limited the number of foreign flights before the virus and also had the rule of only one Chinese carrier between two cities (e.g. Hainan from Beijing to San Jose, but then Air China applied for Shanghai to San Jose (before the virus)).
That’s a late news Lucky. It started in June 2020, when the postponed 2020 Lianghui (Congress meeting and Political Consult Meeting) is held in Beijing, the capital. It’s notable that when the last coronavirus hit China back in 2003, CCP kept the news secret for 3 months until the usual end of Lianghui and apparently f-ed up. This time, they want to keep the pandemic down and keep Beijing (in old CCP language, symbol of...
That’s a late news Lucky. It started in June 2020, when the postponed 2020 Lianghui (Congress meeting and Political Consult Meeting) is held in Beijing, the capital. It’s notable that when the last coronavirus hit China back in 2003, CCP kept the news secret for 3 months until the usual end of Lianghui and apparently f-ed up. This time, they want to keep the pandemic down and keep Beijing (in old CCP language, symbol of unity, heart of motherland, proud of ppl etc) safe. Therefore they want to divert all problematic stuff (eg international passengers) out of the city. So they leveraged Shijiazhuang (capital of Hebei province, basically the buffer province of Beijing), Tianjin (the port city nearby), Taiyuan, Shenyang etc to take over Beijing arrival passengers. No matter what the effects are, the intention, at least, is pretty political tho.
It's exciting to see a route I used to take a lot in the past being discussed here.
The FRA-SHE route had existed for a few years prior to COVID. I mean yes, LH was forced to "consolidate" the route with FRA-PEK in such a weird way mainly because of the 14 day quarantine rule - everybody is required to quarantine "at the port of entry", and due to the large number of international...
It's exciting to see a route I used to take a lot in the past being discussed here.
The FRA-SHE route had existed for a few years prior to COVID. I mean yes, LH was forced to "consolidate" the route with FRA-PEK in such a weird way mainly because of the 14 day quarantine rule - everybody is required to quarantine "at the port of entry", and due to the large number of international flights coming into Beijing, there was simply not enough hotel or medical capacity within/around Beijing to host these passengers for the 14 day quarantine. If I remember correctly, in the early days of the lock down, the FRA-PEK flight was asked to re-rout to Shenyang as a first point of entry; similarly, SAS had a flight from CPH-PEK which was re-routed to Shijiazhuang (close to Beijing) as a first point of entry, to spread out the number of passengers who need to be quarantined. And yes, I agree with Ben, the goal is to protect (no "" needed) Beijing as a densely populated political capital of the country by sharing the burden with other less stressed out locations - I think that's the right strategy. Similarly in Shanghai, quarantine policies have been adjusted in a way that if someone lives in/visits a nearby province/city, they are allowed to be transferred to/finish off the 14 day quarantine in their home city after an initial 3 day observation in Shanghai.
@Klaus, the info is quite fascinating. My parents used to work with engineers from Germany a lot back in the days, before they retired. But this is totally new info so thanks for sharing.
@KVM, I'm also extremely frustrated that it's hard to visit China right now and I haven't seen my families for over a year. That said, I was in China back in 2003 when SARS broke out and just by comparison I can see how the government's approach of dealing with this type of disaster has improved overall (yes the initial cover up by the Wuhan local government is outrageous) and I'm actually relieved knowing there are strong (yes probably overly strong to most of the western countries) controls in place so that my families are protected. So is it well-done? guess it depends on for whom we are talking about. Biden has done a brilliant job in preserving large quantity of vaccines and rolled it out for folks in the US - no sarcasm here, I mean it because I live and work here. Do other countries think so? maybe not.
@those who call anyone saying anything good about China Wumao or troll - that's just...pathetic. I used to frown when I see/hear people say "Chinese are all brainwashed". Now I just smize. I mean, nowadays even Liz and Mitt are now labeled as "communists", right? :-/ talk about brainwashing...
@MKLDH I'm sorry you didn't like my post. Can I buy you a beer as an apology?
About Paris to Tianjin:
Due to 5 Covid infections, Air France had to suspend passenger flights end of January for some weeks. They continued to serve this route without passengers and with cargo only.
About Chengdu: Home to many automotive OEM (Dongfeng-Peugeot-Citroen, FAW New Energy, Sichuan Yema, FAW-Volkswagen, FAW-Toyota) and suppliers.
Frankfurt-Nanjing-Frankfurt is operated by a 747-8. I am not sure what they fly from Frankfurt to Nanjing, but the Nanjing-Frankfurt return flight carries...
About Paris to Tianjin:
Due to 5 Covid infections, Air France had to suspend passenger flights end of January for some weeks. They continued to serve this route without passengers and with cargo only.
About Chengdu: Home to many automotive OEM (Dongfeng-Peugeot-Citroen, FAW New Energy, Sichuan Yema, FAW-Volkswagen, FAW-Toyota) and suppliers.
Frankfurt-Nanjing-Frankfurt is operated by a 747-8. I am not sure what they fly from Frankfurt to Nanjing, but the Nanjing-Frankfurt return flight carries protective clothing, masks etc. The plane is parked there for a night and then the crew returns with the same aircraft back to Frankfurt (so they do not have to stay in Nanjing for a week). There also is a Lufthansa Cargo flight to Nanjing with the layover in Seoul.
@Jerry - Putting a notorious label on someone you disagree with and calling it a day is the worst thing in any discussion. I appreciate factual comments like KVM’s but I really don’t like yours which basically just points fingers at others.
Above example shows that there is an urgent need to ship cargo by airplanes and that the economics make sense even though the passenger cabin is almost empty.
There are some more examples why air cargo is needed:
- Due to the current semiconductor shortage, stock levels are down and automotive plants around the globe halted production. They are willing to pay high prices to get available parts flown to their production sites at...
Above example shows that there is an urgent need to ship cargo by airplanes and that the economics make sense even though the passenger cabin is almost empty.
There are some more examples why air cargo is needed:
- Due to the current semiconductor shortage, stock levels are down and automotive plants around the globe halted production. They are willing to pay high prices to get available parts flown to their production sites at quickly as possible.
- Suez canal.
- Google "force majeure texas winterstorm plants": You will find out that some chemical, petrochemical, PE and PP plants had to close for a couple of weeks and are still ramping up production. These companies have a worldwide customer base and airfreight has to buffer the production stops.
@Ben:
Yes, the main motivator for the Frankfurt to Shenyang flight is cargo. Passengers are by-catch.
In fact, there are three methods to transport parts from european suppliers to automotive plants in China: The ship is the cheapest option and it takes 7 weeks. Not all parts can be transported by ship because of salty winds and humidity. The second option is the train which takes less than two weeks, but not all parts...
@Ben:
Yes, the main motivator for the Frankfurt to Shenyang flight is cargo. Passengers are by-catch.
In fact, there are three methods to transport parts from european suppliers to automotive plants in China: The ship is the cheapest option and it takes 7 weeks. Not all parts can be transported by ship because of salty winds and humidity. The second option is the train which takes less than two weeks, but not all parts can be transported by train as the vibration may affect the quality of parts. Besides, up to five borders have to be crossed by this so-called Trans-Eurasia-Express and governmental regulations prohibit various parts from being transported on the train (e.g. pretensioners, Lithium-ion batteries,...). Third and most expensive option is flying and it takes less than a week depending on the booked freight rate (customs clearance is a pain). Using OBC (onboard couriers) is not an option at the moment as they would have to quarantine in China for two weeks.
In case you are wondering if it wouldn´t be easier and cheaper to source all automotive parts locally in China?
Especially for heavy or voluminous parts that should be the goal. But there are many exceptions where it is cheaper to source the parts in Europe. And before Covid, the freight rates to China were cheap. There was plenty of cargo demand from China to Europe but not as much demand from Europe to China.
Let us assume that the instrument combination for a chinese automotive plant is produced in Europe. The weekly demand is 5.000 pieces and the regular mode of transport is one weekly shipment by ship. Taking a 7-week transport time into account, there are 7 weeks * 5000 parts/week=35.000 parts in the supply pipeline between Europe in China. Now assume that due to a covid outbreak, the supplier has to be closed for four weeks. The automotive plant in China does not have to stop production because there is a ship arriving every week. Once the supplier starts producing again there are still three ship = 15.000 parts = 3 weeks of coverage en route to china. Follow-up deliveries have to be shipped by airfreight in order to close the supply gap or by trainfreight- realistically it would be a mix of both train and airfreight. Ideally, the supplier would also ship some parts by ship to slowly refill the supply pipeline. But how realistic is it that the supplier will now have 0 covid cases and an output of 150% to make up for lost production.
I hope this example explains why there is an increased demand for airfreight on the one hand, while on the other hand there are fewer flights. And now the economics make sense for Lufthansa - even with an almost empty passenger plane there is enough cargo revenue.
@Not too useful - How would you know if a comment was deleted?
@MKLDH I think China is great. I miss being able to go there. I hope to return soon. Lots of good things are indeed said about China. That doesn't change the fact that you and Leah are Wumaos.
Also Volkswagen's one of two joint ventures FAW-Volkswagen is located in Changchun, capital city of neighboring Jilin province, less than 200 miles from Shenyang. FAW-Wolkswagen is one of top China's car maker and vital to Changchun's economy.
Another joint venture is based in Shanghai.
@KVM
Leah is not wrong about the containing COVID aspect. Australia and New Zealand achieved low COVID counts through similar measures as well. Australia even banned it's citizen from returning from India.
@Leah that's absolutely not well-done.
It's been incredibly frustrating for Chinese citizens (as well as for Chinese PRs, if there's any) to travel to China since the pandemic.
First of all, you have to tested for both PCR and Antigen (two types of), and you have to have a "probable cause" to travel. Once you have those you submit them to the Embassy (or Consulate) and wait for there approval. If the officer works...
@Leah that's absolutely not well-done.
It's been incredibly frustrating for Chinese citizens (as well as for Chinese PRs, if there's any) to travel to China since the pandemic.
First of all, you have to tested for both PCR and Antigen (two types of), and you have to have a "probable cause" to travel. Once you have those you submit them to the Embassy (or Consulate) and wait for there approval. If the officer works there is in a bad mood today they'll just deny your request and give you a "red health QR code" which will block you from boarding. And they don't need to give you a reason.
Once you're luckily enough to board, travel and land in China, you have to quarantine for at least 14 days (some regions/cities require longer quarantine and possible at-home quarantine). You can't choose a hotel to quarantine, rather they send you to wherever they want and basically it's a lottery. There are many 1- or 2-star hotels that have very gross environment, vomiting and mold in the room, and dirty spots on sheeting. Imagine you have to stay in that environment for 14 days.
I've seen many of my friends being unable to travel back to China, having to rebook which in many cases cost a fortune, and find place to stay because of change in travel plan. You can't travel to your home country. A Chinese passport doesn't guarantee you can travel to China - that's simply ridiculous.
Sure, anyone says anything good about China is a Wumao. How knowledgable you are, Jerry.
@Frank Leah is making that post from Mainland China. S/He's part of an arm of the Chinese Government that comments on all things on the internet related to China in order to shine a positive light on everything the country does. Google "Wumao"
Leah,
Smaller city is relative. Tianjin has a population of over 13 million. That is larger than any city in Europe. Chengdu and Shenyang are also in the 50 largest cities in the world and have populations over 8,000,000. Second tier cities in China are basically the size of LA or Chicago.
Well researched Ben!
Happy to see that you reacted on my comment with a full post
The Chinese government admitted subsidies to their international carriers pre-covid were over $3 billion per year, mostly subsidizing their own citizens to go vacation elsewhere. This is as much about resetting capacity as covid esp. given deteriorating geopolitics
Covid provided a nice excuse to end that; the chances are high that it will be years before western carriers can return to even daily service on their major routes to China.
U.S. carriers aren't serving...
The Chinese government admitted subsidies to their international carriers pre-covid were over $3 billion per year, mostly subsidizing their own citizens to go vacation elsewhere. This is as much about resetting capacity as covid esp. given deteriorating geopolitics
Covid provided a nice excuse to end that; the chances are high that it will be years before western carriers can return to even daily service on their major routes to China.
U.S. carriers aren't serving Beijing w/ passenger flights while PVG is served via ICN which has become the largest foreign carrier gateway to China alongside HKG and Macau and all at much lower levels than pre-covid.
@ nate nate - "it gets at just how logistically complicated flights to China are NOWADAYS." I'd say useless. Also not sure I've ever seen lucky make a change then delete a comment...
Once again, China demonstrates why they still manage to contain the virus.
Their approach of diverting incoming flights to a smaller city makes total sense.
Well done China!
Actually AF's routing is slightly more complicated : Paris-Tianjin-Seoul on the outbound, Seoul-Beijing-Paris on the inbound. As the turnaround time in Seoul is just a few hours (and the flight appears to be once every 2 weeks), I have no idea how crews are rostered...
Interesting!
Things like this are why I follow OMAAT.
Lufthansa flew to Shenyang with an A330 pre-pandemic, and you’re correct that the BMW plant there is likely a large motivating factor.
Is this related to covid? Would be helpful to say whether this is the way its always been, or just in the past year.
P.S. If my comment is useful, don't make the change and delete the comment. Instead acknowledge it was useful (or useless) in a follow up comment.
@ nate nate -- Yes, it's COVID specific. Figured that was clear, as I wrote about how Beijing has a mandatory quarantine for arriving international travelers (which wasn't the case before coronavirus).
There is a third weekly flight to mainland China that LH has been flying since last summer: LH780/781 FRA-NKG.
@ Dave -- Good catch, missed the Nanjing flight!
It's not a limit on quarantine facilities, but rather to "protect" the city where the party rules out of. You can see from the list of "first entry city" that China's tier 1 cities are also protected somewhat as none of them are first entry cities (where you must quarantine in first as an international traveller).